A Mask Over My Heart
by animestargirl
Summary: Four secret agents out to save the world. Four regular high school students just living life. Their worlds were never meant to mix. Now, the biggest battles are fought in their hearts. Is all really fair in love and war? YY, SJ, RB, MM, OH
1. Enter the Agents

Star: Hooray! I'm back with a brand new story!

Yami: Woopdie doo

Star: I swear, I don't have a clue as to where this story came from. I was in church daydreaming about Naruto in the middle of the homily, and suddenly this whole plot just popped into my mind. I wanted to run out of church, drive home, and write this immediately.

Yugi: Guess church is good for something after all.

Star: Yay! I have a new story and a new plot bunny! His name is Estafo! Say hello to everyone, Estafo!

Estafo: (bounces up and down)

Star: Yay! Also, thanks to the people who told me that they would like to read this story. I wasn't too sure if I should start writing it now or not, but you guys convinced me. So here is chapter one, and chapter three is already semi done. I haven't started on chapter two yet, though. :sweat drop:

Disclaimer: Idea is mine! Characters are not.

"speech"

'thoughts'

"_phone/radio/walkie talkie conversation"_

Summary: Trained from birth, Yugi Mouto, codename 'Kit', is the world greatest and deadliest assassin. He has traveled the world on missions and taken down the world's most dangerous criminals. He is swift, sly, cunning, and the top agent in Alter, a secret organization that controls all the governments of the world from the shadows. Now Yugi and his friends and fellow agents, Ryou Bakura and Malik Ishtar have been given a new assignment: find and kill the evil Maximillion Pegasus and stop his newest plan to destroy the world. For Yugi, this mission is personal, so he, 'White' and 'Scarab' travel to Japan and enroll in Domino High, where they can stay near Pegasus' headquarters. Aided by agent Jounouchi Katsuya, 'Pup', the group sets off to take Pegasus down. But as they try to blend in with the other students, the group finds themselves befriending the school's most popular students: Yami, Bakura, Marik, and Seto. Add three more students, Otogi, Honda, and Anzu, and Yugi finds himself caught up in the party called 'teenage life'. But now, distracted by his growing feelings for one of the boys, Yugi is loosing sight of his mission. How could the best in the world crumble so easily? Is it love, or is it a plan? Could one of the members of this group be working for Pegasus? Do the agents of Alter have what it takes to kill one of their friends? Will they fail this mission, and let Pegasus destroy humanity? What is more important: personal happiness or the safety of the world? The four agents don't know anymore.

(Pairings: Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, Seto/Jou, Otogi/Honda)

Here is chapter one of 'A Mask Over My Heart.' Enjoy!

_----------_Enter the Agents_---------_

_"Security Breach! Security Breach! Security Breach!"_

The speakers repeated this phrase while sirens screamed through the night air, and red warning lights came to life, lighting up the whole building. Shouts and footsteps added to the noise as men in white lab coats, and solders in full armor ran around trying to find the cause of the disturbance. Guard dogs and their handlers roamed the outside, while search lights scanned the night skies looking for any air craft. The gates were locked and guarded, while armored vehicles drove around the perimeter of the building, trying to find the ones that had caused the disturbance.

Watching the commotion from an air vent inside the building, two men in all black watched smugly at the panic they had caused. They had successfully stolen what they had come for, and as a bonus they had killed many people. The one in front nodded to the other and they started crawling along the vents, hoping to find a place where they could escape with their prize. The 'prize' was a case containing six vials of blue liquid that, if ingested, would cause the heart to spasm before caving in upon itself. One drop in the water system could kill a whole town in a matter of hours. They were stealing it so that they could threaten their country's leader to listen to them.

Reaching a certain vent, the one in front pushed it opened and crawled through it, entering a storage room. Looking around he spotted the sign that would lead to their freedom. The red 'exit' sign that led to the roof. Waving to his partner, the man started to walk towards the door when suddenly, a knife flew out of no where and landed right in front of him. "Who's there!" he called, and in reply a figure walked from the shadows.

"You won't get away with that case," said this new figure, brushing his long, silver hair behind his ear. This male was also dressed in all black, his clothes consisting of a sleeveless, hooded sweatshirt, pants, and combat boots. Two black wristbands, an arm band that was on his upper right arm, and a slim, black ribbon around his neck was all that accented his upper body. He wore a gray belt with two knives hanging from it, a gun holster on his right thigh and a large gun strapped to his back. On his upper left arm was a tattoo with two letters. One was a red capital 'A', and the other was a black, lowercase 't'. The 't' went through the middle of the 'A', and the horizontal line matched perfectly with the horizontal line of the 'A'. The letters were encased in the outline of a silver diamond.

"Who are you?"

"Alter agent number B37-09D, codename 'White'. I'm proud to be your opponent today," the male, still in his teens, replied with a smile.

"Opponent?" the man laughed. "You're just a kid! Stop playing around, punk, and go home to your mommy."

White's eye twitched in annoyance before he sped forward and kicked the man in the stomach, sending him flying across the room. "For your information, I'm seventeen. Now hand over that case if you don't want to die."

"You little brat!" the second male said, dropping the case and rushing towards White with a knife in hand. White dodged it and jumped onto a crate that was behind him. Jumping up again, he grabbed onto the ceiling rafter, and swung up to land on it. Standing up straight, he smiled again and pulled the black ribbon from around his throat.

"It seems as if you've chosen the hard way," he said, tying his silver hair with the ribbon, and brushing his bangs from his chocolate eyes. "I hope you lived a good life, because it will end tonight!" With that, he jumped from the beam and landed in front of the man, drop kicking him and sending the thief to the ground. Pulling a knife from his belt, he was about to stab the man when the other thief tackled him from behind.

White grunted as he was pinned down, and felt the gun from his leg being removed from it's holster. Thinking fast, White pushed himself up with his hands and flipped them over, jumping away and taking his gun with him. "No one touches my gun," he cried, firing at the man. But he was a second too late as the man rolled away from the line of fire. Picking up the two knives that White and his partner had dropped, he ran towards the teen.

White dodged the first strike, and made a move to kick the man in the side, but the man caught his leg and kicked White's other leg out from under him. White placed his hands on the ground and did a back flip, and jumped onto another crate. He fired at the man, and managed to his him in the right shoulder. The man yelled, and charged towards White, throwing a knife at him, White dodged by jumping off the crate, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the next attack. He hissed in pain when the other knife cut into his left shin. Pulling the knife out, he jumped out of the way for the third attack, he rolled away from the man and shot twice at him. Luckily, the bullets hit their mark this time, and the man fell down dead bleeding from his heart.

Turning quickly when he heard a noise behind him, he shot at the second man but was too late as he ran out the door. White made a move to follow him, but a flash of pain went through his left leg, and he found he couldn't move it. "Damn all hell," he cursed, then pulled out a small headset, and hooked it around his right ear. Turning it on, he spoke into it, hoping that he would be heard.

"White calling Kit. Do you copy, Kit?"

_"Loud and clear, White. What's your status?"_ a male voice responded.

"Target one is down, but target two is moving and he has the object with him. I'm out, so target two is yours."

"_Where is target two headed?"_

"To the roof. He should get there in a few."

"_Copy. I'll touch ground in eighty seconds." _White then picked up the sound of wind rushing past and chuckled.

"Going for that old move of yours?"

"_Of course. You know how much I enjoy it. It gives me such a rush."_

"Of course it does. I'll wait for your arrival here. White, out."

"_Kit, out."_

-------------------

High up above the building, a few thousand feet in the air, a body was dropping through the sky at an alarming rate. This body belonged to agent A49-28G, codename Kitsune, Kit for short. Kit was plummeting head first to the ground, his hair and clothes billowing about. Though no one could see him, because he blended in with the night sky. He was wearing a black, sleeveless tank top, baggy black pants, and black boots. A silver snake arm band was on his left arm, and a black bandanna was around his neck. A long, black cape fluttered in the wind as he picked up speed. Hands covered in black gloves brushed blonde bangs away from his face. The rest of his hair, a strange mixture of ruby and onyx that spiked upwards was now disheveled from all the wind. And on his left upper arm was the same tattoo that White had.

Kit also carried a belt with two knives, a gun on each of his legs, and a large sword on his back. Additional weapons, such as smoke bombs, and grenades were scattered in pockets or holders on his belt. A grappling hook rattled against his side during his fall. And to top it off, he wasn't wearing a parachute. But even though he was falling towards the ground at more than sixty miles per hour, his eyes were closed and a small smile was on his face.

"_Kit," _came another voice, this one also belonging to a male.

"Yes, Sir?" Kit replied, opening his large eyes a crack to reveal shining amethyst behind the lids.

"_Can you confirm sight of the target?"_

"Negative, Sir. He has yet to leave the building."

"_How close are you to landing?"_

"Two thousand feet and closing."

"_Are you wearing a parachute?"_

"Do I ever?"

"_Kitsune! How many times have I told you to wear a parachute!"_

"Don't worry, Boss," Kit replied with a laugh. "I've done this plenty of times, so don't worry."

"_Of course I worry! What would your grandfather say if I came to him and told him that his grandson is now a big splatter on the pavement all because he wouldn't wear a parachute?"_

"He'd probably die of shock. After he killed you of course," Kit laughed.

"_Don't laugh at that! I can't afford to lose my best agent! Even if you are only seventeen! Besides," _the man added in a hushed voice, "_Your grandpa scares me when he's mad."_

Kit laughed again, and opened his eyes completely. "Well, Boss," he said, flexing his fingers. "Time to get to work."

"_Be careful, Kit."_

"Always. Kit out." Bending his head backwards, Kit spotted a pole on the communication tower below him. Grabbing his grappling hook, he waited till he had fallen past the pole to fire the hook. It ejected from the barrel and wrapped around the pole. Once the wire became taut, Kit shifted his body and swung through the air. Pulling out a small, silver disk from one of his pockets, Kit pressed a button and turned it into what looked like a snowboard, and he slid down the tower leg.

He saw another pole far below him on the main building, and he jumped from the tower. Falling through the air, he reached for the grappling hook again and pointed it at the pole. He fired the hook, and it wrapped itself around the pole, allowing Kit to swing gracefully from the tower to the building. Kit then landed on the top of the large, metal air system, and waited patiently for his target to exit.

He didn't have to wait for long as the man carrying the case burst through the door and ran to the edge of the roof. Kitsune smirked and jumped behind him, startling the man who turned around quickly with a gun in his hand. "Oh fuck," he said when he saw Kit standing there. "Another one of you."

"Hand over the case, or die," Kit ordered, completely serious as all the humor from before disappeared.

"You're the one that will die here!" the man yelled, firing at Kit. The boy dropped to the ground and rolled away, pulling out a knife and throwing it at the man, but it missed as the man jumped out of the way. "I won't let some brat stop me!" he yelled, rushing towards Kit. Kit got up and dodged the man's punch, then retaliated with a kick. He hit the man in the side, and sent him to the ground, but the man quickly got up and tackled Kit. The two rolled along the ground, kicking and punching each other before Kit escaped.

The agent pulled a smoke bomb from a pocket and lit it, throwing it at the man. White smoke billowed out, and the man dropped to the ground while coughing. Kit placed the bandanna over his mouth and entered the smoke, stopping in front of the man. Taking a gun, he cocked it and placed it against the man's forehead. "See you in hell," he said, and began to pull the trigger.

But before he could fire, a shower of bullets came down from the sky, and both Kit and the man jumped away. Looking up, Kit saw an enemy helicopter above them, with it's guns pointed at him. The guns began to fire again, and Kit ran behind the air system, using it as cover. "Damn them," he growled, firing at the chopper. But his bullets were stopped by the ones being fired at him. Just then Kit noticed the man was heading towards the helicopter, and with an angry yell, Kit pulled out two grenades. He had to stop the man! But the only way to throw the grenades at the copter was if he left his hiding spot. And if he did that, it would take too long to pull out the pin and throw them. There was only one option.

Suddenly Kit jumped from behind the air system and rolled across the ground, his cape wrapping around his whole body, offering him slight protection from the bullets that started to come down again. Quickly, he threw the two grenades towards the helicopter, and ran back behind the air system. Suddenly two great explosions could be heard. Once the smoke cleared, Kit peeked around the metal vents. Just as he expected, the bullets had hit the grenades causing them to explode near the helicopter. Now the helicopter was no longer able to steady itself, and the thief couldn't climb aboard. The helicopter flew away and crash landed to the ground in a fiery explosion.

"There is no escape now!" Kit yelled, coming from behind the vents to face the man.

"Damn you!" the man yelled, turning back around to face the teen. "Why don't you die!"

"Because that's your job," Kit said, sliding his sword from it's scabbard, the blade glinting dangerously in the moonlight. The man pulled out his gun and began to fire at the teen. Kit ran straight towards the man, dodging the bullets effortlessly and hitting them away with his sword. Before the man could blink, Kit was right in front of him, the sword inches from his heart. The thief looked down and gasped in fear when he saw the large, amethyst eyes looking innocently up at him. Suddenly, Kit smirked and thrust the sword upwards and pierced the man's chest, the blade going straight through the man's back. The man, clutching his chest, screamed in pain before crumpling to the ground. Kit smiled in victory, and walked over to grab the case that had been dropped to the ground in all the commotion.

"Damn…it," the man said as he lay there dying. "Who are you?"

"Me? My name is Kitsune. Top agent of Alter, and the best assassin in the world. You should feel proud to be killed by me."

"Best…my ass," the man croaked out.

"I think you should die now," Kit said, pulling out a gun and shooting the man twice in the head. "Losers shouldn't talk so much." Then, with a sigh, Kit walked over to the balcony and grabbed his grappling hook, replacing it on his side. Looking at his sword, he made a face at the amount of blood that was on it. Ripping a piece of cloth from the man's shirt, he wiped off all the blood, then strapped the sword to his back again. Throwing the bloodied cloth to the ground, Kit walked towards the door and entered the building, his cape billowing out behind him.

He walked down a flight of steps till he entered a room where he spotted White leaning against a wall, holding his left leg. The other agent looked up at him and smiled, waving at Kit. Kit rolled his eyes and walked over, sitting down next to the other teen. "I heard all that noise upstairs," White said.

"Really now?" Kit asked amusedly, tossing one of his knives in the air and catching it.

"The whole building shook when you used those grenades."

"It wasn't my fault that I had to use them! If that guy had just given up when I told him, and that helicopter hadn't shown up, nothing would have happened."

"But when is it ever that easy?" White asked, shaking his head. "Bad guys just never learn. So what's the count this time?"

"Five hundred seventy-two successful assassinations, three hundred completed search and rescue missions, one hundred and eight completed body guard assignments, seven hundred fifty-five completed miscellaneous missions, and zero failed operations," Kit listed proudly.

"Man," White said with a smile. "You aren't the best agent in the world for nothing. And to think, you are just seventeen."

"_White, Kit, do you read?"_ came a voice from their headsets.

"White here. I read you loud and clear, Sir."

"Kit here. I hear you too, Boss."

"_Have both targets been eliminated?"_

"Yes, Boss," Kit responded. "I carried out my orders, and have secured the case. Both targets are down, as well as an enemy copter."

"_Good work, agents. The med team is on their way to pick you two up. Return the case to the scientists and head for the roof."_

"Sir," White said, "I've suffered an injury to my left shin, and am unable to move it."

"_Fine. Wait there for the team to get to you. Kit you go on and return the case."_

"Roger. Kit, out. Ok, make that seven hundred fifty-_six_ completed miscellaneous missions."

"I am so glad I'm your friend and partner, Kit," White commented as he stretched his injured leg out. "I would hate to be your enemy."

"I'd hate to be yours too," Kit replied, getting up and picking up the case. "Ok, when we get back to the base and you get your leg fixed, we are getting food. I'm starving!"

"I don't see how you can fall from the sky over seven thousand feet, and still have an appetite," White said with a roll of his eyes.

"It's all a matter of the mind."

"My mind and my stomach don't get along at times."

"Whatever you say, _Ryou_," Kit responded with a laugh, turning to the door.

"Shut up, _Yugi. _Now, go give that case back! I want to get home!" White ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Kit said sarcastically, before running out of the room laughing.

-------------------

Star: Yay! (huggles Estafo) You are my new favorite plot bunny!

Yami: Why wasn't I in this chapter?

Star: Because I hate you. Just kidding!

Yugi: Why did you make me into an assassin?

Star: I made you like James Bond. Except the fight scenes seem to fake to me. I can't do fight scenes!

Yugi: Cool! I'm James Bond!

Star: Yes you are. So stay tuned for my next exciting chapter! Also, the next chapter to Bright Shadows should be coming out soon as well. Hope to see you then! Bye!


	2. A Dull Life

Star: Hola people! How've you been?

Yami: Do you never give up on writing?

Star: Nope. Because if I did, your life would become dull without something to insult.

Yami: True

Yugi: So you've decided to start another chapter of this story?

Star: Yup! Sorry it took so long, but I have been so busy. Junior prom was last night, and it was fun! Of course my friend stepped on my dress and ripped a huge hole in it! And I had borrowed the dress too! So now I have to give it back to the owners with a hole in it, and they will hate me:cries:

Yami: She didn't apologize either, did she?

Star: NO, the whore:cries more: But let's start this fic before I get pissed off at her even more.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

"speech"

'thoughts'

-----A Dull Life-----

It was six in the morning, and the sun was rising on Domino, Japan, and all around the town, birds began to chirp their greetings to the new day. Soon their chirps would be joined by the noises of the citizens of the city. People were starting to wake up, and were preparing to head out to work or to school. There were people jogging at the park, and others were sitting on benches relaxing. The air was crisp and clean from the morning dew that sparkled on the grass like diamonds.

The sun continued to rise, slipping through the cracks of a curtain and shining into the bedroom of a seventeen year old boy. It crept along the desk and computer, past the white fireplace, across the tan carpet, over the red bed sheets and stopped on the boys face. The boy groaned and turned over, a long, bronze arm covering his eyes. His hair, onyx spikes dipped in scarlet, was a complete mess thanks to all his rolling around. The three blonde bangs that stuck into his hair were pulled down painfully, and the male rolled on his back with another groan. Opening his eyes, his crimson orbs scanned the room sleepily before he sat up, the sheets falling down to reveal a bare chest. 'Ra damnit,' he thought. 'I hate mornings.' Brushing the rest of his blonde bangs from his eyes, the teen lay back down, hoping to get more sleep.

"Yami? Master Yami, it's time to get up," came a voice at his door, accompanied by loud knocks.

"I don't want to," Yami replied, covering his head with his red sheets. "Come back in ten hours, Takano."

"Yami, you will be late for school if you don't get up," Takano said. Yami didn't reply, and he heard the person sigh. "Fine. If you have to be like that." The door opened and a tall male servant with brown hair and gray eyes entered his room. He headed over to the curtains and opened them completely, letting the light illuminate the room. "Must I dump water on you again?"

Yami sighed, and sat up rubbing his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'm up. Although, I find school completely pointless."

"Yes, but 'you know who' would get mad if you didn't go."

"He can go fuck himself. Now, let me get dressed."

"Yes, sir. I'll have the chefs prepare breakfast."

Yami just nodded, and Takano walked out. He stretched his arms and climbed out of bed, heading over to the window. Opening the window, he breathed in the morning air, before turning around and getting dressed in his uniform which was a blue jacket, blue pants, and a black shirt. School was such a pain in his opinion. He was probably smarter than the teachers. In fact, he knew he was smarter than the teachers. What was the point in going if you already understood everything they taught? The only good thing was that he could be with his friends, and away from this house. 'This empty house,' thought Yami while he grabbed his school bag, walked out of his room and down the hallway.

Everywhere he looked he saw maids and butlers cleaning, and priceless objects on display. All along the walls, paintings and awards were hung, trying to show off how great this life was. Everyone he passed bowed to him and said 'Good morning, Master Yami.' And Yami would just nod at them and walk on. If those people weren't paid, they wouldn't give a damn about him. Reaching the staircase, he stood at the top and looked down at all the servants that were scurrying about. There were so many people here, so many servants that were here to make his life easier. They were supposed to, and they did. And Yami was a bit happy that they were here, because if they weren't this house, this mansion, would be unbearably quiet. But other than that he found their presence annoying.

Heading down the stairs, he entered the grand dining room on his right and sat down in the chair at the end of the long table. Looking at all the food placed in front of him, the teen sighed and looked over at the other end. As usual, the chair at the other end was empty, and Yami sighed again. Another breakfast alone. Picking up a fork, he began to stab at the pancakes in front of him while looking out the ceiling high windows on his left. Out there he could see gardeners tending the rosebushes and other plants. More people to pay, more people to drive away the loneliness. Hearing someone cough, he turned to his right and saw a maid standing there.

"Master Yami, I regret to inform you that Master Pegasus will not be joining you today," she said while bowing to the teen.

"What is it this time?" Yami asked in a bored voice. "Work at the office, 'work' with one of his secretaries, or is he just to lazy to get up today."

"He went down to the docks earlier this morning."

'Great. He has enough time to make plans for world domination, but he doesn't have time for breakfast.' "Fine, whatever," Yami replied, standing up. "I'm going to school now."

"But you will be half an hour early," the maid said.

"Better than being here," Yami answered, walking out of the dining room and out the front door. Now that he was outside, he felt a little better. He just hated being inside that damn mansion. Walking down the pebbled driveway, he headed past a red Yamaha YZF-R1 motorcycle and a blue Suzuki Hayabusa 1300 motorcycle and stopped at a red 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago. Opening the door, he tossed his bag to the other seat and climbed in. Glancing at the house in the rear view mirror, he started the car and raced down the driveway and out the gates. "Anything is better than being there."

Shifting the car into second gear, Yami sped down the highway, going fifty miles faster than the speed limit, which was sixty. It was a good thing it was so early, otherwise he would have crashed into someone before ten minutes were through. Weaving in and out of the few cars that were on the road, Yami slowed down a bit and placed a CD into the stereo. Linkin' Park's 'Don't Stay' started blaring, and the teen started to sing along. He definitely felt better now that he was far away from that damn house. He would never go there if it weren't his only home. But it wasn't much of a home, especially with Pegasus living there.

Yami Muto at age seventeen was an orphan since he was five. His parents used to work for Pegasus at his game company. But his dad did extra jobs on the side. Jobs that included smuggling nuclear weapons in and out of Japan, and anything that would help Pegasus achieve his dream of world domination. His mother normally stayed out of jobs like that so she could take care of her son. But one night both his parents went to a warehouse to finish a deal, when suddenly the warehouse was bombed. Since he had no living relatives, Pegasus adopted him. Though he was grateful that the man had provided for him for twelve years, he would have gladly been poor if it meant he didn't have to suffer living with him. And he would give both arms to not be thought of as Pegasus' son.

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Yami noticed the school was coming closer. 'Ah, Domino High,' he thought as he took an exit off the freeway. 'How many times have I escaped to here?' Domino High was a public school, and Yami had chosen to go there for a reason. He would rather be surrounded by gold diggers than be surrounded by the stuck up pricks who went to the private school that Pegasus had looked at. At least the people in public school didn't act like they were better than anyone else. Driving through the gates of the school, he headed towards his usual parking space at the front of the gym. "Looks like I'm not the only one here," Yami said noticing two of his friends.

Pulling into the spot, he got out and dodged the book thrown at his head. "Good morning, Bakura. Good morning ,Jou" he said calmly.

"You bastard!" the one called Bakura yelled at him. His brown eyes were glaring at Yami while his silver hair blew about in the wind. "You didn't tell me we had a chemistry test today!"

"You should have paid attention when the teacher told us thirty times this week."

"You know damn well I don't pay attention to any teacher."

"Well, that's not my problem," Yami replied. "Where is Marik?" he asked Jou.

Jou, a tall blonde with light brown eyes, shrugged. "When I got here, hismotorcycle was already here."

"He had to go meet someone," Bakura answered. "And speak of the devil, here he comes." The three turned towards the main building where they saw a blonde, tan skinned teen heading towards them. He was holding a hand to his right cheek, and his lavender eyes were clouded over by anger.

"What happened to you?" Jou asked when Marik reached them.

"I dumped Rina and she slapped me," Marik mumbled. The three other teens burst out laughing and Marik growled. "It's not funny! What makes her think she can hit me?"

"You are such an idiot, Marik," Yami said.

"Yea, well, your girlfriend is on a rampage to find you," Marik replied.

"There goes the quiet morning," Yami said with a sigh. "What does she want this time?"

"Dunno. But she's checking the whole school."

"YAMI!"

"And now she's found you," Jou said, stepping away from the crimson eyed teen. "Better brace yourself for impact."

Yami barely had time to turn around when he was suddenly tackled into a hug. "Darling! Here you are! I missed you!" Two slim arms wrapped around his waist and squeezed him tightly while a pair of lips locked onto his.

Yami immediately pulled away and tried desperately to free himself from the death grip. "Anzu, don't sneak up on me like that! And have you been smoking? You know I hate cigarettes."

"I'm sorry, darling," Anzu answered. She let him go and brushed her shoulder length brown hair behind her ear. Her azure eyes looked up at Yami and she batted her eyelashes in a poor attempt to seduce him. It didn't work though because Yami had turned away to talk to Bakura. She pouted when she saw she was being ignored, so she latched onto his arm and placed her head on his shoulder. "Yami, dear. You know the winter formal dance that's coming up?"

"You mean the one in four months?"

"Well I found this gorgeous silver dress at the mall. I was hoping you would come with me to look at it."

"Anzu, in two weeks you are going to have another dress that you like. I'm not going to go till you find one you actually plan on buying," Yami responded with a sigh. It was always the same thing. She'd find something she liked, she'd drag him down to look at it, and while they were at the mall, she'd find twenty other things she liked better. "Besides, it's only August. The dance isn't until December."

"But, Yami," she whined, "I really love this dress! I've never seen one like it. I swear this is the dress I want." She pouted and stuck out her lip trying to melt his heart with her attempt at cuteness.

Yami groaned and looked away from her. "Fine. I'll go with you. But if you don't end up buying that dress, I'm not going shopping with you ever again." Anzu squealed in delight and kissed him deeply.

"Will of steel, this one," Marik snickered.

"Way to not cave in, Yami," Jou added.

"Shut the hell up," Yami said with a glare. "And Anzu, don't kiss me after you smoked," he added, pulling away from the girl. Looking at his watch, Yami willed the bell to ring so that he could get away, and go not pay attention to the teachers.

"But darling-" she started to say, but the roar of an engine cut her off. A midnight colored 2006 Jaguar XK Coupe came into view and was heading straight for her. Anzu just stared at the car and didn't budge an inch as she watched it come closer. The screeching of tires filled the air as the car stopped mere inches from the girl. Anzu stood still for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Oi, Yami!" the driver called as he got out. "Tell your girlfriend not to stand in the road. I don't feel like peeling her off my car."

"You should watch out for pedestrians, Seto," Yami responded calmly. "It is a school." He leaned over and picked up Anzu from the ground, who then snapped out of her daze.

"Seto, I can't believe you! Yami, he could have killed me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have been standing in the road," Yami replied.

"He'd be doing the world a favor," Marik whispered to Jou and Bakura, who nodded in agreement. Just then the bell rang and all the guys walked away, leaving Anzu to sulk by herself.

---------------

It was almost noon, and Yami was bored as hell. The teacher was droning on about something that he didn't care about. He'd get all the answers on the test right anyway. Leaning back in his chair, the teen stared out at the window at the sky. Life was becoming so boring now. There was nothing exciting happening anymore, and Yami just couldn't take it. 'Ra, bring something exciting into my life.'

All his days went the same. He was woken up by a servant, had breakfast alone, drove to school, zoned out during class, drove home, did his homework, and went to sleep. The only remotely interesting part of his day was lunchtime when he could hang out with his friends. If he wasn't being ambushed by Anzu. And there was another thing in his life that had become monotonous. His relationship with Anzu was going nowhere.

When he had first started dating her last year, it was fun. Everyone talked about how wonderful they looked together. The most popular boy in school and the head cheerleader as a couple. It was like something out of a soap opera. They went to the mall, and the movies, and the fair. They took trips to the beach in summer, and to the mountains in winter. But somewhere along the way, Yami's feelings for her started to change. He just couldn't find the slightest bit of affection for her anymore, other than friendship. The thought of breaking up with her had crossed his mind many times. But he never did, because Anzu was his first serious girlfriend. His usual way of dealing with girls was date them a few times, sleep with them, then find someone else. It was the same with the guys he dated. Yes, he was bi. But so what? More people for him to fuck.

Closing his eyes, he sighed and ran an hand through his hair. 'It's completely pointless. Even if I do break up with her and start dating other people, I'll still feel this way. Like there is a big hole somewhere in my life, and it's impossible to close it up. I'm missing something. I know I'm missing something in my life; some huge, important, life altering thing. But damn it, I don't know what it is!' "God damnit!"

"Mr. Muto, is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class?" the teacher, a woman in her mid twenties, asked him.

"No. I'm sorry for disturbing your wonderful lecture, Okina-sensei. I was so focused on your melodic voice that I no longer heard what was being said. My sincerest apologies," he said with a brilliant smile at the teacher.

"W-well, make sure it doesn't happen again," the teacher stuttered back, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I promise not to interrupt again. Please continue, you have my complete attention," he continued, looking straight into the teacher's eyes. The teacher blushed even more and turned towards the board where she attempted to speak without stuttering. 'Too easy,' Yami thought with a roll of his eyes. All he had to do was say something flattering and smile, and the teachers would just melt. It was how he dealt with everyone, and it worked every time. 'It's so easy, it's become boring. I haven't met anyone who I consider a challenge in so long. Ra, please! Bring something or some_one_ exciting to me!'

-------------

Walking down the halls was a complete pain. Everywhere he went, people stared and drooled over him. Girls would follow him in groups, squealing whenever he turned around to look at them. Guys would whistle and throw cat calls at him, while checking him out. It was like he had a bright neon sign on him that said 'stare at me!'. No one really saw him as a person in that school, other than his friends. To the rest of the student body he was just a slab of meat for them to pine for. Good thing it was the end of the day.

'Complete idiots,' he thought as he passed a group of girls who blew kisses at him. In response he winked at them, and they squealed like pigs. As much as he hated being stared at like that, he always toyed with them. A smile, a wink, a few flattering words, and maybe a kiss on the hand, and the whole school would die of delight. He could do anything he wanted, and no one would even think about punishing him, not even the teachers. All because he knew how to use his looks, brain, and charm to his advantage.

Pegasus always said that he had the makings of a ruler. Someone who could manipulate people whenever he wanted, and wouldn't have to fear anyone rising up against him. Yami hated that. He didn't want to be a ruler. He didn't want to take over the world like Pegasus. He just wanted to be a normal seventeen year old teenager who had to deal with life like teenagers did. What the hell did he care about the world.

"Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Good Looking," a voice said right next to Yami's ear.

"What do you want, Marik?" Yami asked, walking to his locker, and taking books out.

"Nothing. Just saw you here, and decided to bother you," the Egyptian said, looking around the hall. "Damn, I don't know how you can stand all these people staring at you every day."

"I store all my aggravation, until graduation day when the school will 'mysteriously' be blown up," Yami replied nonchalantly. "Besides, you get stared at as well,"

"But people know better than to do it openly," Marik replied with a slightly psychotic smile.

"Crazy bastard."

"You know it."

"So what are you doing after school?"

Yami shrugged, "I don't know. Probably go home, and destroy something priceless so Pegasus can yell at me."

"You get off on the weirdest things."

"Give me something exciting and I'll pay you," Yami said walking towards the exit after zipping up his bag.

"But it's so hard to satisfy you in anything other than sex," Marik responded.

"That's only because you know how to fuck," Yami answered, pulling out his keys.

"I'd call you a man-whore, but you wouldn't care."

"Of course not."

"Well, maybe one of these days you'll get all the excitement you can handle," said Marik as he climbed on his motorcycle.

"Maybe," Yami replied, getting in his car and driving off. 'I hope that day comes soon. And I hope I never loose that excitement.'

----------------------

Star: So there is chapter two! Chapter three is almost finished, so that will be up soon. As will Bright Shadows 9.

Yami: Gods, my life sucks in this fic.

Star: You suck either way. But it will all get better when Yugi comes.

Yami: Yugi makes everything better. :glomps Yugi:

Yugi: I'm glad I make you happy.

Yami: You always do :runs off with Yugi:

Star: Yes, well…stay tuned!


	3. The Big Mission

Star: Hello again! I've made another chapter!

Yugi: That was fast.

Yami: The only reason she has this done so fast was because it was already half done.

Star: Shut up! At least I did something! Estafo, attack:throws Estafo at Yami:

Estafo:bites Yami's head:

Yami: Get it off:screams:

Star: That's what you get!

Yugi: ……psycho

Disclaimer: don't own, don't sue

"speech"

'thoughts'

"_phone/radio/walkie talkie conversation"_

------The Big Mission-----

It was morning and the two agents were back on their home base. The Alter world headquarters was on a large, uncharted island. The island was the world's largest, and most advanced military training base, with miles of training fields, a hundred research laboratories, fifty submarines and airplane hangars, and the best hospital in the world. The terrain of the island had been changed for training purposes. It was now one fourth island, desert, mountain, and forest. The best agents had been trained on these fields for generations.

The resident area on the island looked more like it belonged in Florida than on a military training base. Well furnished apartments, a cafeteria/bar, a game room, an indoor pool and gym, and the beach was right in front of them. There were also hundreds of other things to do. There were fifty apartment buildings all in a row along the beach, the hospital behind them, and the main offices and conference rooms were in the center of the whole area. The island could house over six thousand people at once. The apartments were square, but on the inside of the square was an indoor garden that bloomed all year round.

Currently, the best of the best, Agent Kit, was resting in his room. He was completely exhausted. Yesterday's mission had come as a rush job, so he didn't have enough time to prepare for the battle. Sure he had a lot of operations like that, but that didn't mean he liked them. With a sigh, he closed the book he had been reading and stretched his legs, wincing in pain when he felt a tense muscle move. He had been sitting on the window ledge for about three hours just relaxing, and now he was completely sore.

Kit got up and yawned, running a hand through his tri colored hair. It had gotten so dirty from all the smoke and gun powder that even after washing it five times, it still felt yucky. But whatever, he would just wash it again tonight. Stretching out his now wrinkled blue shirt, Kit put on a pair of white sandals and walked out of his room. It was a great day, so why should he spend it inside? Besides, the boss had said he needed to talk to both him and White. He then walked out of his apartment and down the hall. Looking over the balcony, he spotted his friend sitting on one of the benches in the garden.

"Ryou!" Kit called, running down the three floors of stairs towards his friend. The white haired teen looked up at the call and smiled.

"Good morning, Yugi," Ryou said. "Finally decided to come out of your room?"

"I was tired and you know it," Kit, or Yugi, replied. His real name was Yugi Mouto. He was a sixteen year old boy who was born in Japan. He had been trained as an Alter agent since he was three at the Japanese Alter Base. It was a family tradition to become an Alter agent. His parents and grandparents had all been agents, and Yugi had been excited to become the next generation of Moutos to serve in the organization. But now he was an orphan because his parents were killed during a mission. His only family was his grandfather who was retired and lived in Japan. His parents had been killed when he was six, and on that day he swore that he would be the best agent ever to make his parents proud, and he had succeeded in becoming the best. Yugi specialized in battle techniques, and had mastered every weapon and fighting style known to man.

"At least you didn't get hurt," White replied. This one was called Ryou Bakura. He was also a seventeen year old boy from England. He had joined Alter at six after discovering that his mother and sister, Amane, had been an agents, They were killed when their submarine was torpedoed. He had found out on accident when he overheard a man talking to his father at their funeral. He marched up to the man and demanded to become an agent just like them. He was then taken to the British Alter Base and trained there till he was twelve. Ryou specialized in reconnaissance, and could gather information on any person, place or thing. He had met Yugi on an assignment in Bolivia where the two became inseparable, and since then they always went on missions together.

"How do you feel?" Yugi asked, taking a look at the bandaged left leg of his friend.

"Fine. It's not the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Although it's annoying to be injured so easily."

"Guess you need more training, huh?" Yugi stated with a chuckle. Ryou glared at him and smacked him lightly on the arm.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not like you, Mr. 'Look at me. I'm the best agent in the world.'"

Before Yugi could reply, a vibration in his pocket captured his attention. He reached into his kaki cargo shorts and pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open and pressing the talk button. "Yo, Boss man!"

"_Can't you be more respectful like the other agents? You're becoming as bad as Jou."_

"Sorry," Yugi replied with a laugh. "I just can't see you as any authority figure. You're my godfather, and you practically raised me."

"_Yes, yes. Sentimental past and all that,"_ their boss replied, chuckling. "_But I need you and Ryou to come to my office now. We need to go over the details of the mission from yesterday."_

"Do we have to?" Ryou asked, pressing his ear next to Yugi's head so that he could listen in as well.

"_Sorry, Ryou. But it's important to get all information out of this."_

"Fine," the two said in unison.

"_Good. I'll see you two soon." _The line then went dead, and Yugi closed the phone and placed it back in his pants.

"He always ruins our free time," Yugi complained as the two friends started out to the main office. "As if he can't get the information from one of the soldiers, or from the Control members." Exiting the apartment, the agents walked down the sidewalk enjoying the cool breeze that floated by. If one ignored the military part of the island, the place was almost like a paradise. Looking around, they spotted people of all ages just hanging about and relaxing with their friends. It seemed that today everyone was at the beach, taking advantage of the wonderful weather on the first June day.

"The sooner we talk to him, the sooner I can get back and go swimming," Ryou said, gazing longingly at the dark blue water that glistened in the morning sun. Watching some little kids splash about in the waves, he felt an overwhelming desire to just leave Yugi and jump into the water. "I haven't been to the beach in a while."

"Even though it's twenty feet in front of you everyday." Yugi said with a roll of his eyes. The two then entered the main building through the automatic doors. The building was fifty stories high, and painted white on the outside, and the inside was the same color. Striding past the white chairs and couches that were in the middle of the lobby, the two entered an elevator and pressed the button with the number '50' on it.

A minute later, they exited the elevator and walked up to the secretary in the desk that was beside the large oak doors. "Hello, Karrie," Ryou said.

"Hello, boys," the secretary replied with a smile. "He's waiting for you inside."

Yugi and Ryou nodded to her, then opened the doors and walked inside the office. To their left was a black, leather couch and two matching chairs, with a silver table in the middle. On their right was a large plasma TV built into the wall, and on either side was a bookshelf. Directly across from them was a large oak desk that was in front of a wall of windows. Sitting in the chair behind the desk was their boss. The two agents walked to the desk, and stood at attention and saluted him.

"About time you two got here," the man said. Their boss was a young man in his early thirties with dark blue eyes, and long purple hair. He was about six feet tall with tan skin that came from his Egyptian background. With a smile he got up and walked over to the two, leading them over to the couch.

"Sorry, Mahaado," Yugi started. "Ryou was caught up in his desire to be at the beach."

"As if you didn't want to just jump in the water," Ryou retorted.

"Well, let's make this fast, then you can both go."

"Mahaado, why do we have to do this?" Yugi whined, pouting at the older man.

"Because I'm your boss and I say so. Now be nice, or I won't tell you the surprise," Mahaado said with a mysterious smile.

"What surprise?" the two teens asked at the same time, leaning forward on the couch in curiosity.

"Nope, you can't hear till we go over business."

"You are so mean, Mahaado," Ryou replied.

"I know."

"Then let's get this over with," Yugi said.

Ten minutes later, the two agents had completed their reports, and lay down on the couch. "See, that wasn't so hard," Mahaado said with a laugh while putting away the mission file. In reply he got two aggravated groans. "I had to do the same when I was an agent, so deal with it."

"Where is our surprise," whined Ryou. "I demand the surprise now!"

"Me too!" said Yugi.

"Fine, fine," the man said with a laugh. Getting up, he walked over to his desk and pressed a button on his phone.

"_Yes, sir?"_ came Karrie's voice.

"Send the surprise in."

"_Right away, sir."_

"It better be good," Yugi said, glaring at Mahaado. "After making us sit through this, it better be worthwhile."

"Watch that attitude, Yugi. Or I'll just take the surprise back," Mahaado replied, smirking.

"NO!" Yugi and Ryou cried out at the same time.

"Jeez, Mahaado," an amused voice said from the doorway. "You should know better than to tease them like that."

Yugi and Ryou turned to look at the newcomer, before squealing in happiness and tackling the person. "Malik, you're back!" Ryou said.

"I can't believe you're here!" Yugi added.

"It's great to see you guys too," Malik said with a laugh. Malik Ishtar, codename Scarab, was a seventeen year old Egyptian with blonde hair, lavender eyes, and dark tanned skin. He had joined Alter at five, against his parents wishes. His twelve year old sister, Isis, was already a rookie agent, and he wished to work with her on operations, so he ran away from home and entered the Egyptian Alter Base. He had been given the tag number R17-88K when he became a rookie. When he was thirteen he met the other two on the Australian Alter base, and had become part of their team. Malik specialized in weaponry, and in covert operations. He could get in and out of a high security building ten times without setting off a single alarm.

"When did you get back?" Yugi asked.

"Earlier today. Mahaado said I had to get here a.s.a.p., so I got on a transport plane and headed over."

"But weren't you on vacation?" Ryou asked.

"Yes, I was. So thank you, Mahaado, for cutting my vacation short," Malik said with a glare at the older man.

"An agent's work is never done. But now that you are all here, I must get down to business. There is a big assignment that I must inform you of," said Mahaado as he sat down in his chair behind the desk.

"Where?" Malik asked.

"Japan. To the town of Domino, to be more precise."

"Why would there be a mission in Domino," Yugi asked, worried that something was threatening his hometown.

"We have been receiving reports from the Japanese, Chinese, and Indonesian Alter bases that Maxmillion Pegasus is smuggling nuclear weapons in and out of these countries." The room was silent after that, and Malik, Ryou and Mahaado turned to look at Yugi, who was glaring at the floor. It was Pegasus who killed Yugi's parents, and Yugi hated the man more than anything in the world. The man was pure evil, and he was always trying to take over the world. Yugi had fought the man once, and the boy was almost blown up in an explosion.

"What do we have to do?" asked Yugi seriously.

"You accept this assignment?" Mahaado asked.

"Of course I do. What do we have to do," Yugi repeated.

"You three, along with Agent Pup, who has already been informed, will have to go undercover at Domino High School. You must lead lives as normal teenagers while watching all of Pegasus' movements. We believe that a deal will take place for Pegasus to ship out a large amount of weapons to Russian insurgents. In return, Pegasus will not only receive a large amount of money, but he will have allies when he decides to attack.

"While you are there, I want Agent White to find out all he can on this transaction, and send all information back here to Control." Ryou nodded silently, and Mahaado continued. "As you know, Agent Pup has been working on this mission for a year, but now with these new developments, it has been raised from Level D to Level A. This is the most dangerous type of mission, so the four of you must be incredibly careful."

"How do you expect us to make any headway with this operation if we have to pass off as ordinary teenagers?" Malik asked.

"From what Control has gathered, it is possible that there are people working for Pegasus who go to Domino High. Pup has not been able to find them, but he has some suspects. Pegasus has made it nearly impossible to dig through his private life, so we don't know what he has planned. But be aware that this will not be just a simple information gathering mission. Be prepared for tough battles. The four of you agents, along with Alter solders will be sent in to stop these deals from taking place. These battles could get bloody, since most of Pegasus' men will be there."

"When do we leave?" Ryou asked.

"One week. Sector 6 is working on your fake ids and passports. Kit won't need one, since he is a Japanese citizen, but you and Scarab will receive those. The three of you will also receive fake school transcripts and files to take to the school board. The principal has already been notified of your coming, but he doesn't know a thing about who you really are. But he has been told that the three of you, along with Pup might have to leave school suddenly."

"Wait, we'll have to leave during the middle of a class to deal with this mission? Wouldn't that come off as a bit suspicious if the four of us just left school for no reason at the same time?" Malik asked.

"Not all four will leave together. If it is a small matter, one or two will leave. If it is bigger, two will leave at first, then the other two will join them at the end of the day. And if it is a serious matter, all four of you shall immediately leave no matter what you are doing," Mahaado answered.

"I still say it'll be strange. Especially if we are new," Malik said.

"That is not something you should worry about," Mahaado said. "You three have been provided with housing while you stay there. Kit and White will stay with Kit's grandfather, while Scarab will live in an apartment not too far from Pup."

"Why does Ryou get to live with Yugi?" complained Marik.

"Because that's the way it has been planned. You won't be far from them, so stop complaining. Now, if anyone asks about your relationship with each other, Kit and White are distant cousins, and Scarab went to the same school as Pup. Kit and White have been in England, but have now decided to live with their grandfather for the rest of the time they are in high school. Since we said Pup went to a boarding school in America, Scarab will say the same thing. He decided to move to Japan because he heard that both Kit and White have gone there. Since Kit and Pup have been friends since birth, we can use that as a way to tie up everything."

"Sounds like an interesting bunch of lies," Ryou commented. "It'll be interesting to see if anyone believes that I'm related to Yugi."

"Does everyone understand what I've said?" The three agents nodded. "Good. You will get further details tomorrow when I give you the files for this task. The Japanese Alter Base has been informed of your coming, along with the Japanese military and government. The J.A.B. has sent a submarine to the Domino port, and from there you will keep in contact with HQ and the J.A.B. As usual, Kit will lead this mission, so all the Alter soldiers will be under your command."

Yugi, who had been silent the whole time, just nodded once. Mahaado looked at him, and asked, "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Of course I am. I'll get Pegasus this time, and I'll make him pay for killing my parents."

"Kit, don't let your hatred for him jeopardize the mission. I will not hesitate to remove you if I feel that you are incapable of handling this operation for whatever reason."

"There won't be a reason. I've never failed before, and I won't fail this time. Nothing can distract me."

"Alright then," Mahaado said, standing up. The three agents stood up as well, and stood at attention. "I expect you three to be training this whole week, and Kit is to make mission plans. Report back here tomorrow at ten to get the files. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the three said in unison.

"Good. Dismissed." The three saluted him, and then walked out. Mahaado sat back down with a sigh, and pulled out a picture from the desk. It was a picture of him, a man, a woman, and Yugi as an infant. "Yugi's grown up so quickly. I've done the best I can in raising him, but now he's going off on his own. He's the best in this dangerous job, and I know you two would be proud. But I'm afraid that after this mission he won't be the same. I swore I'd protect him, and I will for as long as I can, my friends. But I can't save him forever."

---------------

Star: Voila! Chapter three is done! YAY!

Yugi: YAY!

Estafo:bounces up and down:

Yami:……

Star: ……Estafo, attack!

Yami: NOOO:runs away:

Yugi: Poor thing. It must be so hard on Estafo :plays with Estafo:

Star: Bye-bye!


	4. First Impressions

Star: Hola people! How have you been? You missed me? Sorry for the long as hell wait. But here I am! And since it's summer, you'll be seeing a lot more of me! (hopefully)

Yami: That is, if your laptop gets fixed.

Star: That's right! ;cries; My poor laptop is all messed up!

Yugi: Good thing you have your parents computer

Star: You mean the one that they are always on? Yea, good for me. Anyway, it's almosttwo amhere, so I'm gonna cut this short and let you guys get on to the story! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own, can't sue

"speech"

'thoughts'

"_secret language"_

--------First Impressions-------

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Seconds passed by quickly on the clock. Seconds becoming minutes becoming hours. Time went on, dragging him along with it. As he listened to the clock he went over every little detail on the papers in front of him. Today was the day. It was almost time. Time for the mission to start. The mission that could possibly change their lives forever. But that was the fun part of missions. One never knew the outcome.

Pushing back blonde hair from his face, he gazed around his apartment. It was pretty well furnished for a mission stake out. Of course, he did have to live here for a while, so it should feel homey. But what would make him feel completely at home was a lot of sand, an oasis, and the view of the pyramids in the distance. So he was a bit homesick. Who cared?

"Focus, Malik," he told himself. "Gotta get ready for this." Looking back down at the papers, he sighed in boredom. There was about an hour left till he had to get ready for school, and yet he couldn't sleep. He would be surprised if the other three were even napping. But then, Yugi had probably been awake all night. The teen certainly had been pulling all nighters for the past week, trying to come up with fool proof strategies, and clever battle plans. Yugi was definitely taking this mission seriously. The proof was the mountain of papers in front of him.

"Ok, I'm not going to bother with this anymore," he said quietly, getting up from his seat on the bed. What was the point in going over something a million times? He already knew every single line on all of those sheets, and now he was bored with them. Most likely something would happen that would make them have to change their entire plan. It always did.

Ah, but such was the life of an Alter agent. Always running around the world, making plans to stop bad guys, having those plans backfire, then making something up on the spot while trying not to get your ass blown off. Life was just fun. Like 'Charlie's Angels', only in Malik's opinion he looked better. 'But I'd rather be an agent, instead of a civilian. Their lives are so boring.' Touching the Alter tattoo on his upper left arm, he smiled as he thought back to the day he received it.

'Isis couldn't stop smiling the entire day. And I couldn't stop groaning in pain. I'm never getting another tattoo ever again.' Malik sighed, then looked out the window at the rising sun. 'Today is the day. The day we've been waiting for, and I can't help but feel a little nervous. Who knows what might happen. Who knows what that Pegasus has up his sleeve. And with Yugi's connection to him, things will definitely get ugly. I really hope that at the end of this mission, all of us are still alive. Especially Yugi.'

------

A mile away, at the Kame Turtle Game Shop, Yugi was up in his room pacing back and forth. He had slept at the most two hours last night. Any more than that was completely impossible. How could he be expected to sleep? When the mission he had been waiting for his entire life was about to start. The chance to take down Pegasus once and for all. The last time they had met, Yugi was still a rookie. Still getting stronger, and it was his lack of strength that had almost cost him his life in that explosion. But now that he was the best agent in the world, he would be able to take on Pegasus one on one.

'I'll kill him. I'll make him pay for what he did to my parents, and all the other innocent people he's hurt. When this mission is through, he'll be nothing but a rotting corpse.' Yugi stopped in his pacing to reach into his shirt and pulled out a gold locket. Opening the cover, he stared at the pictures of his father and mother. "Wish me luck," he whispered to them, as he always did before a mission.

Hearing a noise downstairs, he decided he had spent enough time in his room, and walked out. Nothing ever changed in his room. Every time he visited it was always littered with clothes, toys, books, mission logs, and models of weapons. The normal room for a teenage agent. And he wasn't about to clean up his familiar mess. He liked it that way, and nothing his jii-chan could say would make him clean it. Going down the steps two at a time, he walked into the kitchen, and sat down next to Ryou who was playing with a bowl of dry Lucky Charms.

"You ever wonder how they get these colors on the marshmallows?" the British teen asked, examining a rainbow piece.

"Magic?" Yugi replied, stealing a handful and getting a slap on the hand.

"Like they enslave leprechauns into making the colors on the marshmallows, like Lucky?"

"If they did, we'd have to go and set them free."

"But then we'd have no more cereal," Ryou pouted.

"Then I guess it's better not to think of it. Where's jii-chan?" Yugi asked, looking around for the elder Mouto.

"Down in the shop. Said he had to work on a new display."

"It's too early for that. But as long as I don't have to do it I'm fine. He always wants these really tall displays, and that doesn't work with my height."

"One of these days you'll get your growth spurt," Ryou said with a smile, patting Yugi on the head.

"Yea? Well what I lack in height, I make up with how much ass I can kick."

"Sometimes you are strange."

"Not as strange as Jou."

"When is he getting here?" Ryou asked, eating the rest of the cereal and placing the bowl in the sink.

"Eight minutes," Yugi responded. "He will pick up Malik first, then come for us."

"Are you ready for this?"

"I will make him pay, Ryou. I've been waiting for so long for this chance. I am not going to let it slip by because of some stupid mistake." Yugi clutched the locked tightly in his hand. "He won't get away this time."

"Remember what Mahaado said. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment."

"I know that. I'm not going to make such a rookie mistake."

"I know. But I just want to remind you, incase something happens," Ryou replied with a shrug. "You can plan all you want, but you never know how things will end up."

"I realize that. But I'm telling you right now, Ryou. I'm not going to let anything get in my way of taking that bastard down. And I'll make sure that every last person who willingly works for him gets what they deserve."

Just then the doorbell rang, and Sugoroku called out to them from the shop. Ryou and Yugi looked at each other and took a deep breath. "Ready?" Yugi asked, picking up his school bag.

"I'm a bit nervous. I haven't been to a real school since I was six."

"I've never been to a real school. So don't complain. But let's make the best of it," he said with a smile, before rushing down the stairs and out the door, Ryou right behind. "Hey, Malik! Jou!" Yugi called to his friends.

"Hey, you two," Jou called back, waving to the two. Jounouchi Katsuya was an eighteen year old, with blonde hair and light brown eyes. He and Yugi had grown up together, and had trained together at the Japanese Alter Base before they were both transferred to **A**lter **I**sland at eight. He had joined Alter because his grandparents were both Alter soldiers, and because he used all the money he received from his missions to supports his mother and younger sister. When he became a rookie he received the number T82-40L and the codename Pup, much to his annoyance. Jou was the technological master of the group. Describe something, and Jou could build in no time. He could also hack into any computer system, and could bring down an enemy satellite if he felt like it. He even had helped program the security system around **A**lter **I**sland.

"Ready, guys?" Jou asked once they were inside the car. Mercedes ML500 SUV, to be precise. It seemed that their mission budget was a lot bigger than usual. "Off to your first day of school. I feel like a parent, driving his kids to day care." He pulled away from the curb, and took off in the direction of the school. "Such a wonderful day."

"Well, this kid will kick your ass if you don't shut up," Malik said from the front seat.

"Enough, guys. There is no time for foolishness today," Yugi cut in seriously. "From now on we are focused only on the mission. I'm not going to deal with any bull, got it?"

"Yes, Sir," the three others responded.

"Good." Yugi leaned back in his seat as he watched the scenery fly by. 'I'm going to get you, Pegasus. Just you wait.'

------

Yami was annoyed as hell. The day had just started, and already it was turning into hell. First, Pegasus had come home drunk the previous night, and today woke up with a bad hangover. Which meant that the entire time Yami was getting ready for school and eating breakfast, all he heard were curses aimed at random people. Although most were directed at him, but did he give a damn? No. So what was new?

Second, he forgot to fill up his Lamborghini with gas. He was going to call Jou to ask for a ride when he remembered that Jou would be coming in late for a reason which he did not give. So he had been forced to have Pegasus' chauffer take him in the limo. As if people didn't stare at him enough when he got out of the Lamborghini. He _could_ have taken his white Escalade, his black Hummer, or either one of his two motorcycles, but he didn't feel like it. So out of five options, he chose to be lazy and have someone else drive.

Third, Anzu had called him sixty seven times last night, and left sixty seven messages in voice mail and text. He eventually just turned off his phone, because he really didn't want to listen to her go on for hours about things he didn't give a rat's ass about. Well, it seems the girl had also emailed him thirty times, each email saying the same thing. 'Pick up. Don't you want to talk?' NO, HE DIDN'T WANT TO TALK! He wouldn't have turned the damn cell phone off if he did.

Fourth, he was just pissed off at the world in general. So basically his day was screwed from the start. And only a complete miracle could make the day better. And everyone knows how often those happen. So a pissed as hell Yami stormed through the crowds towards his locker. But it really couldn't be called a 'crowd', as all the people dived out of his way once they saw how angry he looked. Even the toughest bullies pressed themselves against the walls when he walked by.

"What the fuck happened to you?" someone asked behind him. Yami let out an annoyed grunt, and threw a binder behind his head towards the person. "Wonderful day, right?"

"Fuck the world," Yami seethed. "Fuck the world to hell."

"You really do need to loosen up. If you keep going on like this, you'll end up insane," the person replied, reaching over Yami's head and putting the binder back in the locker.

"You shouldn't talk, Seto," Yami replied. "With how stuck up you are."

"I have a reason. You are just naturally pissed off all the time." Seto leaned against the lockers, and watched with a smirk as Yami fought to get all of his books into his bag at the same time. "We don't have algebra today," he said.

Yami glared at him, then threw the large book into the locker, and slammed the door. The loud metallic clank was heard all the way down the hall. "I'm not naturally pissed off. It's the world and everyone in it that makes me want to scream." He then headed towards his first class, the crowd once again parting for him.

"You know, Pegasus is right when he says you could be a leader. With the way the crowd parts for you."

Yami stopped and turned around, and started yelling at Seto. "You shut the hell up! I don't give a damn what that fucking bastard says!"

"Woah! Bad day, Yami?" Bakura asked as he and Marik walked up to the two.

"I hate this world! I hate it completely!" Yami yelled. Just then Anzu came up to him cautiously.

"Um…Yami, dear?" she called slowly, only to have Yami's glare land on her, sending chills down her spine.

"I don't even want to _look_ at you today!" With that Yami stormed away, leaving his friends to wonder if it was safe to talk to him for the rest of the day.

"Maybe we should leave this to Jou," Marik said. "If he ever gets here."

----------

It was almost the end of the second class of the day, and Yami was feeling a bit better. He had spent most of last class on the roof, angrily throwing paper balls at the cars below. Anger management 101: throw things at objects till said objects are broken beyond repair. Sadly paper balls, no matter how big, just float down. Too bad he didn't have something harder. But it helped…a bit. Luckily he was in history now. An easy class for him, so he was just staring at the ceiling.

'Damnit, Seto was right. I'm pissed off a lot these days. Everything sets me off. Maybe I should see the school nurse. But what good would that do? She'd probably just say I'm going through a 'phase'. That idiot probably failed out of nursing school. Why else would she take a job as a school nurse? Ugh! There I go again. Insulting people for no reason, getting mad at the littlest thing. Maybe there is something wrong with me.'

Picking up his pen, the teen began to draw a circle on the paper. He just continued to trace over the same circle over and over while he tired to keep calm. Otherwise he'd just explode again like he did earlier with Seto. And other people might not take it as well as the other teen did. And then there was the deal with Anzu. If she wasn't scared shitless, then she was probably mad as hell. He'd have to do something to apologize to her. Tomorrow. He really didn't want to see her at all today.

A knock was heard at the classroom door, startling Yami and making him mess up on his circle. Great, another thing to get pissed at. But he decided to just make another one instead…preferably one not on his notes. He opened the binder, and ripped out another piece of paper while he watched the teacher get up and head across the room to the door. He sat in the back, so he didn't see who it was, but he didn't really care. As long as it didn't involve him, he didn't care. Another thing he was doing a lot nowadays was 'not caring'.

Hearing excited whispers coming from the teacher and whoever she was talking too, Yami looked up again. So she was talking to the principal. Someone was standing next to the principal, but again Yami couldn't see. Who ever it was was shorter than the principal. So that ruled out teacher. A student, but male or female was anyone's guess at this time. But again, he didn't care.

"Class. Class, settle down," the teacher said, walking towards the podium. "I have some exciting news. We have a new student joining us today." As soon as the words 'new student' left her lips, the entire class erupted in chatter. Who was this new kid? Was it a boy or a girl? Where did they transfer from? "Class, settle down!" the teacher said again. She then waved to someone outside the door. "Class, this is Yugi Mouto."

And just as quickly as the class had started talking, they all fell silent as they stared at the person who walked through the doors. Even Yami couldn't tear his eyes from the newcomer. After all, it wasn't everyday that someone who looked exactly like you walked in the room. Well, not exactly, but close enough. This new boy, Yugi, could pass as Yami's little brother. A more innocent younger brother.

"Would you like to say something to the class, Yugi?" the teacher asked.

Yugi blinked then smiled at the class. "Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you."

The whole class started chattering again, and they all kept glancing back and forth between Yami and Yugi. Another thing that was starting to piss Yami off. "Does anyone have a question for Yugi?" the teacher asked.

"Where did you come from?" a girl asked.

"I moved here from England, where I was living with my cousin for a while."

"Were you born in Japan?" another asked.

"Yes. Here in Domino."

"Why do you look like Yami?" a boy asked.

Yugi blinked then looked over at Yami, his eyes taking in the other's appearance. "I don't know. Strange isn't it?" he said with a smile.

'How can he play it off so easily?' Yami asked himself. 'It's like he doesn't give a damn that we look alike. Not that I do either. There is something about that Yugi kid that gets to me. It…annoys me. I don't like him.' While the class kept asking Yugi questions, Yami just stared at the boy silently. For no reason he just had this sudden dislike for Yugi. He had no idea why though. He hadn't even spoken to the boy, and yet Yugi was quickly climbing to the top of his hate list.

"I think that's enough questions for now," the teacher interrupted. "Yugi, you can take a seat behind Yami. You can use his textbook for now, since he never uses it himself." Yugi nodded, took the study packet offered to him, and quickly walked to the desk behind Yami. As soon as he sat down, Yami placed the textbook on his desk. Yugi blinked and looked up at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea. Just take it."

"Ok, thank you," Yugi replied, smiling at Yami.

Yami blinked at him, then turned around. "Sure," he said. He was feeling annoyed again.

"All right," the teacher said. "Can anyone tell me what Mesopotamia means? It was in your homework last night." Silence met her as she looked around the class, and she sighed. "Am I going to have to call on someone?" As she said that, she looked at Yami.

Yami rolled his eyes. It was always like this. No one bothered to answer, so the teacher always called on him. Unless he felt nice enough to say the answer on his own. Today he definitely didn't feel nice, but if it got the teacher off his back, so be it. It was a simple, stupid question anyway.

"The land between two rivers."

Yami's eyes widened and he turned around to stare at Yugi. The new kid beat him to the answer. And he knew it too. Well, it was an honors class, but that wasn't the point. He actually answered the question! A quick look around the room told Yami he wasn't the only one surprised.

The teacher blinked a bit, before smiling. "That's correct. Do you know the rivers?"

"Euphrates and Tigris in western Asia," Yugi answered quickly and effortlessly.

'What is with this kid? He's just answering all the questions easily. Half the people in this class don't even know what she's talking about. Why does that piss me off even more? Because I'm no longer the only one in this class who actually knows something?'

"What were the two political powers?"

"Um…"

"Babylonia and Assyria," Yami cut in. 'Ha! He doesn't know everything.'

"What are the famous laws of the Mesopotamian era called?"

"Hammurabbi's Laws," Yugi answered.

'That little…! He thinks he's so smart.' Yup, Yami definitely didn't like this new kid.

"What were the laws written in?"

"Cuneiform," said Yami.

"What is that?"

"Picture writing," replied Yugi.

"Where were the laws placed?"

"In the center of Babylon," answered Yami.

"How -" the bell rang then, signaling the end of the class. "Well, that was an interesting period. I am very pleased with how much you know, Yugi." Yugi smiled at the complement, and Yami felt the urge to gag. "Finish the study packets for next class, everyone!"

Just as Yami was about to leave he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around slowly. "Yes?"

"Thanks for letting me borrow your book," Yugi said with a smile, holding the book out for him.

'What is it with him and his constant smiling!' "Keep it. You need to do your packet."

"Are you sure?"

'No! I'm joking, and I'm going to steal it back,' Yami thought sarcastically. "Yes, I'm sure. You need it tonight. Although," Yami continued, a slight mocking tone to his voice, "I'm sure you don't need it. You're smart enough." That said, he quickly headed out of the class, hoping he didn't run into Yugi ever again.

------

'What was with him?' Yugi thought, confused and slightly annoyed at Yami's words. 'Bad mood much? But whatever, I can't bother with small things like that. Now I have to find Jou and the others during homeroom.' Picking up his bag, Yugi walked out of the room, pulling out his schedule for the day. 'Four classes a day? Seems easy. I hope I know all the things they teach. Now where was it we planned to meet? Oh yea, Jou's locker.'

Walking down the hall, Yugi looked around at all the people and was amazed at how colorful a high school could be. Flyers, banners, and posters were everywhere. Groups of people just littered the halls, each louder and more energetic than the rest. It was so different than the school back on **A**lter **I**sland. Even the school at the Japanese Alter Base was so different. There everyone focused on learning everything they needed to know to be a good agent or solder. In a way, Yugi was sad he never had a chance to grow up in an atmosphere like this. Then again, he loved being an Agent too much to trade it.

But the longer he walked, he realized he wasn't the only one doing the staring. It seemed that everyone in the hall was looking at him. Not that he was embarrassed, but he was definitely feeling uncomfortable under all those scrutinizing stares. Was it because he looked like that other guy? Was it because he was new? Whatever it was, he didn't really feel like being stared at, but what could he do? Best thing was to get to Jou's locker quickly.

'Where is his locker! I can't take anymore of this staring.' Looking around once more, he spotted a mane of messy blonde hair towering over the rest of the crowd. 'Found him!' Yugi quickly pushed himself through the people, almost having to shove people out of the way. He reached out and grabbed an arm, and pulled himself from the masses before leaning against the lockers completely out of breath.

"Looks like ya made it through the halls well enough," Jou commented with a chuckle.

"Going through this crowd is harder than it is going through the Amazon. And stop laughing!"

"Sorry, sorry," Jou said. "So how was your very first class in a public school?"

"You really do sound like a parent," Yugi replied with a roll of his eyes. "And it was interesting. I'm surprised though that with as many people in that class, not as many knew anything. That or they didn't feel like answering."

"Yea, well, ya go to school this early five days out of da week for years and ya won't be so energetic either."

"I want to know what Malik thought about school. Ryou should do fine though. Is that him now?" Yugi asked, pointing to a mane of silver hair that was seen weaving through the crowd. Wait…make that…two silver manes.

"Aw, damn. Looks like he found Bakura," Jou said with a groan.

"Who?" Yugi's question was answered for him when Ryou and another male who looked like him walked up to them. Yugi could do nothing but blink and stare at the Ryou look-a-like who could do nothing but stare back. "Um…hi, Ryou."

"Hey, you two. How was your class, Yugi?"

"Quiet and full of people staring at me. You?"

"It was exactly the same. Oh, Yugi, this is Bakura," Ryou said, pointing to the male standing next to him. Bakura nodded to Yugi in acknowledgment, and Yugi gave him a small smile.

"Watch out for him, Ryou. He'll corrupt your soul," Jou warned.

"Shut it," Bakura said. "You never told us you knew that new kids were coming."

"Why do I have to tell ya everything? But yes, I've known Yug' and Ryou for years. Yug' here is my best friend."

"Figures you'd be friends with a mini Yami."

Upon hearing that name, Yugi's interest was caught. "Wait, you mean the quiet, slightly arrogant, looks like he's pissed at the world Yami?"

"That's him," Bakura said with a nod.

"Perfect description," Jou agreed. "Though he's a bit more than 'slightly' arrogant. You met him?"

"He's in my history class. I sit behind him, and he let me borrow his textbook."

"Poor you," Bakura replied. "You'll have one hell of a year."

"Is he really that bad?" Ryou asked.

"I'd rather be bitten by a cobra than be around him when he's pissed off," Jou said. He then spotted a head of light blonde hair heading towards them, and smirked. "Yugi, I'd watch out if I were you. You're about to be attacked by 'you-know-who'."

But before Yugi could blink, Malik ran up to him and tackled him into a hug, almost knocking Yugi to the ground. "Hi guys! What's up?" He then noticed Bakura and blinked. "Since when are there two Ryous?"

"There are more clones in this school?" Bakura groaned. "Where are they all coming from? Don't tell me there is a Seto clone here too."

"Hell no!" Jou said. "One stuck up prick is more than enough!"

"Talking about me?" Seto asked amusedly as he walked up to the group. But when he saw Ryou, Malik, and Yugi he stopped and stared. "Mind explaining?"

"No, I don't really feel like it," Jou said.

"Watch that tone," Seto said, smirking. "Mutts should be respectful to their masters."

"Shut the hell up, ya-" Jou began angrily.

"Jou," Yugi said sternly. Jou looked over at Yugi and saw the serious expression on his face. With a sigh Jou turned away from Seto.

"Sorry, Yug'." Best not to do anything like that again in front of Yugi. This was an extremely important mission, and Yugi had already said he was not going to deal with anyone cutting up. After all, he was the leader of the operation, and Yugi wouldn't think twice about sending someone home if they were a hindrance.

"So where are the Honda and Otogi?" Bakura asked.

"I haven't seen 'em since yesterday. Dey probably skipped school. Ya know how dey are. It's a shame, cause I wanted to introduce you guys to them," Jou said.

"Well, as long as I don't have to meet that Yami guy again, I'm fine," Yugi said. 'Anyone would be better than him.'

------

'The nerve of that new kid, coming here and showing off like that on his first day. How conceited is that? The fact that he looks like me pisses me off even more.' Yami was definitely not having a good day. And just when it seemed like it was getting better, that Yugi had to come and mess everything up. He should have just stayed in England. Then everything would be perfect. But he just had to come to this school, and wind up in the same class.

Yami wasn't saying that Yugi was a bad person. He seemed nice and was polite, but it could all have been an act. Putting on a show for the first day to get everyone to trust him. But Yami knew he was just making things up; Yugi's smile was genuinely nice. No secrets behind it. Yet there was something about Yugi that was completely and utterly annoying. It could have just been Yami's anger clouding his judgment, but still…

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Marik asked, walking up to Yami when he noticed the teen sulking by his locker, looking for the world ready to kill anyone who bothered him. Lucky for Marik, he was used to the frightening glares.

"I found yet another thing that pisses me off," Yami responded, tapping his fingers against the lockers.

"Are you ok, man? You've been extremely angry lately."

"I don't know. Maybe it's because it's getting close to that time." It was the middle of August, and Yami's parents died on the first of September. He always got moody around this time, but this year he seemed to be even worse. Normally he never got so angry.

"It'll pass soon. Then you'll be back to your slightly moody, cocky self."

"I'm not cocky," Yami muttered. "Have you seen Jou?"

"Not yet, but he's here," Marik replied. Yami pushed away from the lockers and headed down the hall towards Jou's locker. "He's got a new car, you know. I saw it. It's an SUV."

"How can he afford that?" Yami asked.

"How can he afford anything he owns? The guy gets money from no where. He's probably doing a few things after school that polite society would disapprove of."

"Shut up. You know damn well that's not true," Yami defended. The teen then stopped at a water fountain to get a drink.

"I know. I know…uh…Yami?"

"What?" Yami asked, not looking up.

"Is it my imagination, or is there a clone of me clinging to a clone of you across the hall?"

'Clone?' Yami's head shot up and he scanned the hall. And to his complete surprise he saw Yugi. Standing next to Jou and a look a like of Malik. There was even a look a like of Bakura in their group. And to top it off Seto and Bakura were there too. "What the hell?"

"This is interesting," Malik said with a smirk. "Those must be the new kids. I want to go meet them. Especially that mini me."

"Go yourself. I'm not going to bother," Yami replied, his anger levels rising even more. 'What the hell is he doing there? It's like he's trying to replace me.'

"Oh, come on!" Marik said, pulling Yami towards the group. "It'll be fun!"

"Marik, I said no!" But he just couldn't pull his arm free from the other's grip, and was unwillingly dragged across the hall and towards the person he least wanted to see.

"Hi guys!" Marik called out, and the whole group turned towards them. Yami could have sworn he saw Yugi's face pale. "Hello new kids."

"Great, you two finally showed up," said Seto.

"Sorry. I had to go find this moody bastard."

"Shut up, Marik!" Yami responded.

"So, what's with the new kids looking like us?" Marik asked, staring at Malik who was beginning to feel uncomfortable under the intense gaze.

"Long story short, we don't know," Jou responded. "But these are my friends Malik, Ryou, and Yugi. And it seems that Yugi and Yami have already met," the blonde added with a smirk.

"Hi again, Yami," Yugi said politely. Yami didn't reply. He just narrowed his eyes at Yugi and looked away. Yugi felt a small surge of anger rush through him. 'What is with this guy? Some nerve!'

"Stop being such a hard ass!" Bakura said, slapping Yami on the back of the head, eliciting a string of curses from the teen. "Jeez, the kid might look like you, but he is definitely nicer."

"So, how exactly do you know these guys, Jou?" Marik asked, standing next to Malik who then clung tighter to Yugi.

"Yugi and I grew up together. Yugi and Ryou are cousins. Malik is my friend from the boarding school in America," Jou responded promptly. Exactly what he was supposed to say, according to the mission file he received last week. Now they just had to see if anyone believed them. If not, well…they'd just have to lie some more.

"So why'd they come here?" Yami asked. He said 'they' but he really meant 'Yugi'. Of all the schools in Domino, he had to pick this one. It was just Yami's luck. He glanced at Yugi, and noticed the other was looking at him as well. And Yami swore he saw anger flash through the violet orbs for a second before it disappeared. 'So he doesn't like me? Good. I'll make him hate me as much as I hate him.'

"It was the closest school to where we live," Ryou responded, just as the bell rang. "Time for class. I have algebra. Bye!" He and Seto then walked off together to their class.

"I've got chemistry," Malik said.

"What do you know! Me too," Marik said, grabbing Malik's arm. "I'll take you." He then started to drag Malik down the hall.

"W-wait! But Yugi…" Malik sputtered frantically, looking back at his friend.

"Go on," Yugi chuckled. 'At least now he knows what it's like to be dragged off against his will.' "So, Jou, we'll meet here after the next class?"

"Yup! Lunch time! Now let's go before we're late," Jou said. "Bye guys," he said to Bakura and Yami, before dragging Yugi off to their next class.

"He seems nice," Bakura commented as he watched the two run off.

Yami just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"What is with you? Don't tell me you hate him."

"You're smarter than you look," Yami replied, walking off towards his next class.

"You just met him! How can you hate him already? Don't tell me you're worried that he'll replace you or something." Bakura said, following Yami.

"Like he could. I just don't like him. To me he's nothing but a pest, and I don't want anything to do with him ever." 'There is no way I could ever like him. Yugi Mouto, you just made your first enemy at Domino High.

------

"So, how's everything going?" Jou whispered to Yugi during class.

"It's different than what I thought," Yugi whispered back. "It's so energetic."

"Yea, that's high school."

"But I have a question. Is that Yami guy always that way?"

Jou smiled and nodded. "Pretty much. Some days he's really nice and happy, but most of the time he's in a bad mood. Don't know why though. It's like he has something against the world."

"You know when he asked why _we_ came here, he meant me," Yugi said, frowning. "I don't think he likes me."

"Well…that's just how he is. Give him a few days. He was in a really bad mood this morning, according to the others. Like, screaming in the halls and everything."

"I guess I'll give him some time. But if he keeps taking shots at me like that, then I'm going to start disliking him. I already do a bit."

"You're probably the only person in this school who does. You might not believe it, but he is the most popular guy here."

"I definitely don't believe that. He's such a hard ass. How can anyone like him? If they do, it must be for looks alone, because his personality sucks."

"You have a few admirers already," Jou said with a smirk, motioning to the girls that kept glancing back to Yugi and giggling.

"I don't want to be admired just because I look like Yami," Yugi said angrily.

"They'll be drawn in by your looks, but you have the personality that will keep them there. Don't worry so much," Jou replied with a wink. "You may look like him, but that is where the similarities end."

"Boys!" the teacher called angrily from the front of the class. "No talking, or you'll get detention!"

"Sorry," Yugi replied with a sheepish smile. "I promise not to do it again."

The teacher suddenly blushed and smiled. "Oh, that's perfectly ok, Yugi darling. It is your first day after all. You're forgiven." She then turned back and began her lecture again.

Yugi blinked in astonishment, and Jou just chuckled. "Guess you two have more in common. All you have to do is smile and you can get away with anything."

Yugi groaned and placed his head on the desk. 'Wonderful. I don't know why he's so mean to me. Is it because I'm new? No, or else he would have been mean to Ryou and Malik. I don't understand him. If he wasn't so rude, maybe we could be friends. But at this rate, it doesn't seem like that will ever happen.'

-------

'Thank the gods for lunch,' Yami thought as he sat down at his usual table in the cafeteria. 'I can't take anymore of this day. I just want to go home and sleep.' "Hey, Yami!" he heard someone call from across the cafeteria, and he looked over to the entrance to see Jou and Yugi. 'Great. _He's_ here.'

He watched as the two walked over from the lunch line. They were talking to each other and laughing. Yami kept his eyes locked on Yugi as the boy laughed. 'It must be so wonderful to be all ignorant and carefree like that. He's always so happy. He doesn't know what it's like to have a hard life. Maybe…maybe that's why I hate him. Or one reason, at least.'

"Are you just going to be in a bad mood all day?" Jou asked as they sat down.

"You want me to smile and be all happy like? That job is already taken," Yami said with a quick glance at Yugi.

The young agent didn't reply to him, but inside he was fuming. 'He really is nothing but an ass! Does he think I'm always happy? This guy can't even fathom the suffering I've been through. He has no reason to say things like that.'

Jou, sensing the sudden tension that washed over them, stood up quickly. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. The others should be coming soon." He then walked away, hoping both of them would be alive when he came back. 'Sorry, Yugi. But this is for your own good.'

After Jou left, the table was very quiet. Yami and Yugi were deliberately looking away from each other. Both were annoyed at Jou for leaving them alone together. The tension was so thick that it was almost tangible. They felt it surround them, but didn't bother to do anything to relieve it. Why should they? They didn't like each other.

'This is ridiculous!' Yugi thought. 'Being mad at him is getting me no where. And I don't have time to deal with crap like this during this mission. I might as well get this over with now, and if it goes bad, I can just forget it completely.' "Yami, why don't you like me?" Yugi asked suddenly.

Yami's eyes widened and he looked over at the other. 'Fuck! What the hell is he doing, asking me that? Like I even know.' "Why, does it bother you?" he asked.

"I just don't understand why you act this way towards me."

"I don't have to explain anything to you."

"But how can you hate me when you've just met me?"

"I have reasons."

"Obviously petty ones."

"It shouldn't bother you if they are petty."

"It does because you have no reason to hate me."

'I hate you because you exist.' "I do have reasons. Petty ones. And it's not my problem if it bothers you."

"You're just being childish!" Yugi exclaimed.

"This coming from the kid who looks like a six year old," Yami retorted.

"I may look like I'm six, but at least I don't act like it," Yugi replied, glaring at Yami.

"Oh, nice comeback," said Yami sarcastically. "Look, I don't like you and that's all. Get over it."

Yugi glared at Yami and muttered something under his breath. Of course, Yami didn't understand a word since Yugi had chosen to insult him in a different language. But the teen had a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't nice. But Yami couldn't care less what Yugi said to him. The kid was a brat and a pest, and Yami wished he would go away forever. Luckily for the both of them the rest of the group came up to the table at that moment. A second later and the two would have been at each other's throats. "Yami, why are you spreading your bad mood to others?" Seto asked, noticing Yugi's angry look.

Ryou, Jou and Malik quickly sat down next to Yugi, and tried to calm him down. It was not a good thing to get Yugi mad, especially when on a mission as immense as this one. Mad Yugi means danger to the entire student body. "Yugi, what's wrong?" Ryou asked.

Yugi didn't reply. He just looked away and bit his lip. There was no way he was going to let the others know how much Yami annoyed him. "_Pup,"_ he called to his friend in Latin. On missions, they usually chose a language to speak in that no one else would understand. But since Seto Kaiba ran a large, international company, he was bound to know many other languages other than Japanese. So they decided on one that not even Seto would know. That ended up to be Latin.

"_Yes, Sir?" _Jou replied. This was not good. If Yugi switched to calling him by his agent name then things were not going well.

"_You are not to leave me alone with Yami again, understood? Same goes for you, White and Scarab," _Yugi ordered. "_Pull a stunt like that again, and I will report you to Control."_

_"Yes, Sir,"_ the other three agents replied in unison. Yep, this was definitely not good. Yugi wasn't bluffing either. He never joked around when it came to missions.

Yami and the others remained quiet while the others were talking. They just listened and watched, completely confused. What it sounded like was complete gibberish. What it looked like was Yugi was telling them something, and the others were agreeing. Of course, no one understood what it was they were saying, because the language they were speaking was not commonly heard in Japan. And it was definitely not any form of English. Even Seto seemed at a loss.

Malik, noticing that everyone was staring at them, quickly started a conversation. "So, how did everyone's class go?"

"Boring, like usual," Bakura responded. "I have an art project due in three days, and I'm no where near done."

"You're no where near starting," Seto commented.

"You take art?" Ryou asked, now interested.

"I took it to pass time," Bakura replied. "But I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself."

"His art looks like a drunk monkey painted it with a screwdriver," Marik commented with a laugh. Bakura growled and smacked him upside the head.

"You're just jealous of my skills!"

"I'm sure his skills are fine," Ryou said. Hearing this, Bakura looked over at him and smiled. In return, Ryou blushed a little and looked away. "I'd like to see some of your work…if you don't mind."

"Sure. Anytime."

"_Ryou's got a crush,"_ Malik teased, switching back to Latin.

"_Shut up!"_

"_Malik, leave him alone," _Yugi cut in. "_I think it's cute."_

_"I don't have a crush on him!" _Ryou defended.

"_Liar! You're blushing even more now," _Jou added with a laugh.

"I hate all of you!" Ryou shouted, reverting back to Japanese. He then noticed that everyone else was staring at him because of his sudden outburst, and he hung his head in embarrassment. "Um…just ignore that part." Yugi, Malik, and Jou started to laugh while the others just stared.

"You are an interesting bunch, I'll say that," Seto stated.

'If by interesting he means completely insane,' Yami thought to himself. He was even more annoyed than he was in the morning, and it was all Yugi's fault. Now all that was left that could ruin his day even more was if Yugi ended up in the same class as him for last period. And knowing his shitty luck, that would happen. 'Stupid brat. I really wish he never came here.' Glancing quickly at the object of his undivided hate, he quickly wondered how it was possible to be so completely, stupidly happy all the time. Well, not all the time. The only part of his day that was interesting was when he got Yugi mad. Oh yes, he had found a new hobby. Pissing off Yugi.

And yet, he still didn't know exactly _why_ he hated Yugi. Running through any possible reasons, he just couldn't find one that satisfied him. And the fact that he couldn't find an answer was also annoying him. Why should he waste his time hating someone when he couldn't even figure out the reason for hating the person in the first place? Although at this point, Yami figured he'd hate Yugi either way. There was just something about him that ticked Yami off, something that escaped Yami at the moment. He'd figure it out soon. He better, because hating someone completely was tiring.

'Come on, bell. Please ring! I can't stand being here anymore,' he thought, staring at the clock across the room, hoping that it would speed up. Sadly he still had five minutes left of lunch. He could have just gotten up and walked away, but he was too lazy. Hearing his name called, he turned and found everyone staring at him. Everyone but Yugi. "What?"

"Pay attention, damnit!" Marik exclaimed. "What are you doing Saturday? Because we decided to go to the movies."

"Everyone?" Yami asked, hoping that by some miracle Yugi wasn't going to join them.

"Of course everyone!"

'Damn! There goes my weekend. But…I got it!' "Sorry, I already have plans with Anzu. Besides, it's only Monday."

"Who's Anzu?" Ryou asked.

"His girlfriend," Seto explained. "She's the brunette across the cafeteria flirting with half the male student body. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe one of the jocks just grabbed her breast."

"She can take care of herself," Yami replied with a shrug. "Besides, she's used to it. And she's only doing it to get back at me for yelling at her earlier."

"Well, that's…a nice thing to know," Malik responded slowly.

'I'm amazed,' thought Yugi as he took a sip from his water bottle. 'that anyone would want to be with him. I should feel sorry for the girl, but seeing the way she's acting around those other guys, I figure my pity would be completely wasted. Though what she sees in a prick like Yami, I'll never know. It's definitely not for his personality.'

Finally, to Yami's complete relief, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Now to get out of there as fast as possible. The only good thing about his next class, other than (hopefully) being away from Yugi, was that it was art. He could finally relax a little. And also, Jou was in the art class next to his, so they could visit. 'Please, let that brat be on the opposite side of the school! Just this once, be nice to me.' But when he looked back, he noticed that Yugi was still walking alongside Jou. Unless he had a music class there was no reason for him to be on this side of the school. 'Fuck, he has art too. Fate hates me, I just know it.'

Yugi wasn't too happy with the situation either. He had just found out that he was in the same art class as Yami. That was just his luck. To be stuck in yet another class with the asshole. The only good thing was that in art class there was no assigned seats. "_Isn't there any way I can get out of this class?"_ he asked Jou hopefully.

"_Sorry. Unless you pay them twenty dollars, they won't change your schedule. Besides, they'll probably say that since you are new it's best you make friends in as many classes as possible."_

_"That's complete bull. I can make friends in any class. Why can't I switch to yours?"_

_"Because according to your 'records', you excel in art. Complain to Control or Mahaado if you want out."_

_"Like Mahaado would do anything. He'd just say that it was another challenge for me. As if this mission isn't hard enough, I have to be stuck with this jackass for two classes."_

_"Well…four. I didn't think it was necessary to tell you, because I didn't think you two would end up hating each other."_

_"FOUR! I have four classes with that guy!" _Yugi yelled. That was so not fair! Out of seven classes, why did he have to have four with Yami? In this mission, apparently it wasn't just his life on the line. He was sacrificing his sanity as well. 'I hope this missions ends soon. I DO NOT want to spend an entire year with that guy.'

"_Sorry, Yugi. There is nothing I can do. I'll come to your class in a few minutes. Just hope that you don't sit next to him."_

_"With how my luck is today, I probably will."_ With a sigh Yugi walked into the class. Looking around, he was immensely glad that there was more than one empty seat, and that Yami had people sitting next to him already. 'Thank you to whoever likes me up there!' After talking to the teacher, he took a seat across the room from Yami, not looking up even though he knew that Yami was looking at him. 'Let him look all he wants.'

So that's how they went along for the first few minutes of class. Yami would occasionally glance up from his work and look over at the agent, while Yugi made a point to avoid all eye contact with Yami. The young agent kept himself busy by working on his assignment. Apparently they were just starting on a new project. Drawing a picture from a magazine with charcoal. Sounds easy enough. Hopefully he wouldn't mess up completely. Last thing he wanted was to give Yami a reason to be an even bigger ass.

After ten minutes of flipping through magazines and being bored Jou finally walked in, glad to see that his two friends were still alive and in one piece. He wasn't too worried about Yugi, since he knew the agent could control himself. Yami on the other hand was not trained to keep his emotions in check. The teen was usually ranting, brooding, or doing something else to vent his anger. Which apparently he had been doing earlier that morning, if the mountain of crumpled paper in the parking lot was any indication. And if Yami disliked Yugi, then he would try everything to get under the agent's skin.

Unfortunately for Jou, the two were sitting on opposite ends of the room. Which meant that he would have to go back and forth just to talk to them. This would be hard. Walking up to Yami, he noticed that the teen was surrounded by magazines, yet he wasn't looking at any of them. Instead he was flipping through a game magazine with a bored expression. "Hey man! Find anything interesting?"

"As if. I own half these games, and the rest are probably being shipped right now."

"Isn't there anything in this world that can make you happy?" Jou asked with an annoyed sigh. "A person? A place? Pills?"

"Give me enough explosives to blow up a building and you'll see how happy I become," Yami replied with a smirk, turning another page in the magazine.

"I don't understand you sometimes, and I really don't want to," Jou replied as he walked across the room to Yugi. "Hey, bud! What's up?"

"Being bored as hell," Yugi replied with a small smile. "I can't wait to get home!"

"_Ah, but remember we have to go to the submarine base and check in with the officials there," _Jou said quietly, sitting down so that he wouldn't be overheard. Not that anyone would understand Latin anyway.

"_I would prefer to forget that," _Yugi responded with a sigh. "_I don't feel like dealing with those military idiots now. The Alter soldiers are fine, but those generals from the Japanese military get on my nerves. Pompous buffoons."_

_"But you-know-who will be there to make it all better for you," _Jou said with a smirk.

"_It just gives me two more reasons not to go. I'd rather not be caught in a tug of war between them again," _Yugi responded with a fond smile.

_"If I remember correctly,"_ Jou said, his smirk getting bigger. "_Last time we visited the guys, you left with four hickeys on your neck, and a ripped shirt."_ The blonde agent watched in satisfaction as his friend's face suddenly turned red. It was so fun teasing the best agent in the world.

"_Y-you…b-but I…it wasn't as if…you promised not to bring that up again!" _Yugi stuttered, trying to control his blush. It wasn't his fault that those two were always doing things like that to him! Yugi always tried to stop them…granted, he never tried very hard. "_Stop smiling like that!" _he whispered to Jou who kept that annoying all knowing smile on his face. "_I said stop! That's an order!"_

_"Alright, alright," _Jou responded, trying with all his might to straighten his smile. Sadly it wasn't working, but Jou didn't really care. "_I'm sorry for smiling like that, Yugi. Though…you know you'll have plenty more by the time this mission is over."_

_"Jou! Enough!"_

Yami looked up when he heard Yugi shout. It was amusing to see the kid looking completely embarrassed while Jou sat there with a smirk. 'So he shows other emotions other than happiness,' Yami thought. Though he wasn't really one to talk as the only emotion he's had for the past few weeks was anger. But that wasn't the point.

'That brat needs to learn his place,' Yami thought as he continued to flip through the game magazine. 'If he thinks he can just come in and suddenly be Mr. Know it all Popular Boy, he's in for a rude awakening.' Looking up again, he noticed that Jou was walking over to him again. The blonde was still wearing that smirk. Quickly glancing over towards Yugi, he saw that the teen's face was still a dark red. "Have fun over there?" he asked when Jou sat down on the table.

"Teasing him is so fun," Jou responded with a chuckle. "It's so easy to make him blush."

"Right," Yami responded, already bored with the conversation. Jou noticed his unenthusiastic response and sighed.

"Why don't you like him? It's not like he's done anything to you."

"I can hate whomever I want," Yami said, looking back up at his friend.

"Do you have a reason?"

"I'm working on it."

"Moron," Jou muttered, shaking his head. This comment earned him a hard punch on the arm. "Seriously! It's his first day here, and already you made him the target of all your anger. You have problems, man."

"You know what they say," Yami said with a grim smile, "like father like son."

"Don't even start with that," Jou said. "I don't want to hear you rant." 'It would not be good if Yugi found out Pegasus is Yami's father. Then he'll definitely never be friends with Yami. But by the looks of things, that wouldn't happen anyway.'

"Is he always that fucking cheerful?" Yami randomly asked, and Jou looked over towards Yugi. The teen was talking with the people around him, and had a big smile on.

"Most of the time. You on the other hand are always pissed off at the world. People are attracted to him because he is happy and friendly."

"Well excuse me for being such a grouch," Yami snapped. Jou just rolled his eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

"You need to stop looking at the bad side of life."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"It'll certainly be a relief to the rest of us who have to put up with your damn mood swings."

"Not my problem," replied Yami with a shrug. Jou let out an annoyed groan and got up, then walked back over to Yugi. 'As long as things keep going the way they are, I'll always be distant and angry. I pray for the day that my life changes from this monotonous path. The day that I finally break free, and I'm finally happy.'

Just then the art teacher, Mrs. Mount, came forth and told everyone that the bell would ring soon. She asked everyone to throw away the scraps of paper and place all the magazines in a pile on their desks. "And…since Yugi and Yami are sitting at the front and back of the class, would you please take the magazines back to the shelves."

The two teens just sat there stunned, while Jou snickered. What in the world possessed the teacher to call on the two of them? She expected the two of them to reshelf the magazines together? That was insane! But what could they do? So the two stood up slowly and picked up the magazines from each of the tables.

Walking to the back of the room, they entered the store room, and began to silently put the books back on their shelves. Everything was going fine till an evil idea formed in Yami's head. Leaning over subtly, he 'accidentaly' bumped (none too gently) into Yugi. Yugi would have been fine had it not been for the large box of paints next to him. And so he toppled over the box, knocking into the shelf as he fell. But as he was falling, the agent reached out to grab something to steady himself. Unfortunately what he grabbed was Yami's arm, pulling the teen down with him.

The two landed with a loud crash, and all the magazines they had just put up rained down upon them, along with all the textbooks on the shelf beside them. "What's going on!" the teacher asked, rushing in to check on them, Jou right behind her. "What happened in here?" she exclaimed, seeing the two students on the floor surrounded by tons of magazines and books.

"Sorry, I tripped," Yugi lied, glaring at Yami. Tattling was beneath him.

Yami blinked in shock, wondering why the other lied to the teacher. But before he could think more on it, the teacher spoke again. "You two will stay after school to clean up this mess."

"What! I can't stay after school!" Yami yelled. "I've got plans!"

"Well those plans will have to wait till everything is back where it belongs."

"It's not my fault he tripped," Yami said, pointing accusingly at Yugi.

Yugi just sat there stunned as he listened to the blatant lie. Yugi had lied to keep them from getting in trouble. Yami had lied just to save his skin. 'This guy is the absolute worst creature on the planet!' "Cause your shoulder had nothing to do with it," he snapped. 'Bastard!'

"It doesn't matter who tripped. Both of you are staying after school, and you are both going to clean up this mess. And if I hear another comment from either of you, you both get demerits. Now get to work!" She then stormed off to her office, leaving the two boys and Jou alone in the art room.

Jou sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a hard year if those two kept fighting like this. Yugi and Yami slowly got up, kicking the books out of their way as they kept glaring at each other. Only one thought crossed their minds as they began to put everything back in order.

'I really hate that guy!'

--------------------tbc-----------------------

Star: XD Now how many of you had a heart attack when it was revealed that they hate each other? Sure I could have made it love at first sight, but where is the fun in that? ;grin; Besides, I love to tease you guys.

Yugi: But that's so mean! Making me hate Yami.

Star: Get used to it, cause you'll hate him for a while. I've gotten used to hating him

Yami: You've always hated me -.-

Star: Not true, but hating you is so easy! XD Anyway, stay tuned to the next chapter! Buh bye!

(**just for the record**: how many of you are curious as to who those two guys that gave Yugi those hickeys are? Cause I'm not telling! XP You just have to wait till another time. Doesn't that make you mad? Yami with a girfriend, and Yugi fooling around with **TWO** guys.)


	5. The Trials of Teenage Life

Star: Hola people! How is life for you:dances with Estafo:

Yami: Why are you so continuously happy?

Star: Because I can make your life miserable. XD

Yugi: I love her reasoning.

Star: Yesh! Anyway time for the next chapter of A Mask Over My Heart. Please enjoy!

disclaimer: don't own, don't sue

"speech"

'thoughts'

_"secret language"_

"phone/radio/walkie talkie"

-------The Trials of Teenage Life------

It had been one week since the Alter agents Kitsune, White, and Scarab started their mission in Domino, Japan. Along with their friend, Pup, the four agents were to pose as students at Domino High in order to gather information on their target. The target was Maximillion Pegasus, the CEO of a worldwide gaming company, and head of an organization bent on world domination. The mission was to eliminate Pegasus before any of his plans could take effect. And to do that, they needed to track down everyone who worked for him, and get rid of them. That included any high school students.

It was a normal mission for the four. Save the world from destruction and kill the bad guy. Only Pegasus wasn't the average villain. He had tried to dominate the world once before, and this time he had more power. He had more influence, more rich allies, more followers who were willing to give their life to see that his plans would succeed. This would definitely be the hardest mission the team would ever have to face, and they knew that there would be many casualties along the way.

They also knew that there would be many bumps along the road. But they never expected to run into a brick wall. A very stubborn brick wall that didn't know it's place. This, of course, referred to Yami Muto, a senior at Domino High and a new enemy of Yugi's. This enemy wasn't dangerous, but completely and utterly annoying as hell. In one week he had managed to get on Yugi's bad side at least twice a day. And the fact that they had four classes together really didn't help.

Basically the week went as follows:

Tuesday: Yami stole Yugi's calculator in Algebra. Yugi replaced all Yami's textbooks with freshman level books.

Wednesday: Yami spilled paint on Yugi's seat in art. Yugi hid the 'Wet Floor' sign, and Yami fell flat on his face in the middle of the hall.

Thursday: Yami placed Yugi's gym bag in the shower room, and turned the water on. Yugi hung Yami's backpack in the girls bathroom and placed a sign under it which said 'Property of Yami.'

Friday: Yami erased all the research Yugi had done on the computer for World History. Yugi hung Yami's cell phone from a tree.

Monday: Yami tripped Yugi while they were running laps in P.E. Yugi threw twenty cartons of confetti eggs on Yami's Escalade.

It was now Tuesday again, and Yugi was very thankful he didn't have first period with Yami. He really didn't want to see the bastard at all ever again. Unfortunately he had P.E. with the idiot after this class. Good thing was that the rest of his friends would be there. Then homeroom came after P.E. , but after that he had Algebra with Yami. It was impossible to escape him, and each time Yami did something to him, Yugi wanted to throw him from the roof more and more.

But the agent knew that to let Yami get to him was a sign of weakness, so he tried very hard to keep from getting too aggravated with him. He had a mission to focus on, and he wouldn't let some stupid civilian distract him from his target. But if the bastard kept pushing him, Yugi would definitely beat the hell out of him. There was no way he was going to let him get away with pulling all that shit for too long.

The bell rang, and Yugi packed up all his things slowly. He didn't want to go to P.E. He didn't want to face that jackass. But there were a lot of things that the agent didn't want to do. It was like Mahaado had told him millions of times: Better to get things over with then to drag them out forever. So Yugi trudged out of his class and headed towards the gym, hoping he'd see one of his friends along the way.

He got his wish as he saw a head of silver hair walk out of one of the classrooms. The person was too tall to be Ryou, but it didn't matter. Bakura was a nice person, and Ryou seemed to like him. Even if the other agent refused to admit it. "Hey, Bakura!" Yugi called, walking up to the other.

Bakura turned towards him and waved, then turned back to talk with someone who was still in the class. Yugi waited patiently beside him until he was finished. "What's up, kid?" Bakura said as the two headed towards the gym. "Ready for another fun filled class of gym?"

"As long as that prick doesn't come anywhere near me, I'll be fine," Yugi said, angrily.

Bakura chuckled at his tone. "Just ignore him. Yami's being a hard ass because he's no longer the center of attention."

"He's so shallow," Yugi replied.

"Yes, he is. Luckily, you aren't anything like him."

"If I was, I would have shot myself a long time ago," Yugi grumbled, and Bakura ruffled his hair. They entered the gym where they saw Seto, Marik, and Malik sitting down on the bleachers. The second Malik saw Yugi, the blonde raced down the bleachers and tackled Yugi into a hug.

"I've been waiting for you forever!" Malik said, squeezing tighter.

"I'm surprised he doesn't have cracked ribs from all the times Malik does that," Seto commented. "And here comes Jou and Ryou. But I haven't seen Yami all day."

"Who cares about that moron?" Yugi said, as he finally pried himself away from Malik's grip. "The world would be so much better if he disappeared."

"He's not usually so bad, if you can believe it," Marik said, pulling Malik back on the bleachers. The blonde agent tried to scoot away, but Marik grabbed Malik's shirt and wouldn't let him leave. Malik threw a pleading look to Yugi, but Yugi just smirked and shook his head.

"I refuse to believe it. I'll always think of him as a complete asshole," Yugi responded.

"Talking about Yami?" Jou asked amusedly when he came up.

"I hate him," Yugi said, and Ryou pet his head.

"I'd die of laughter if you two ended up being good friends in the end," Bakura said with a chuckle.

"I'd rather be shot in the head!"

"That can be arranged," a voice said from behind Yugi. The agent mentally groaned and turned around to see Yami. "You're too loud, brat," he said with a glare.

"And where have you been?" Seto asked before Yugi could reply.

"Talking with the chemistry teacher about my project. She gave me four extra days since I was away on that trip." Just then, the coach blew his whistle and the students filed into the locker room to change.

"_I have the greatest urge to stab something repeatedly," _Yugi whispered to Malik in Latin as they walked over to their lockers.

"_As long as it doesn't involve me, go ahead," _Malik replied.

Yugi smirked and took off his shirt, before putting on his P.E. shirt. "_Do you think Mahaado would be mad if I ran him over with a tank? I would be doing the world a favor."_

_"I don't think he would see it that way," _Ryou whispered from beside Malik. Yugi pouted, and the other agents chuckled. "_Besides, driving a tank is too much trouble."_

_"True," _Yugi replied with a sigh. The three walked out of the locker room and took a seat in their group. The coach started explaining about what they would be doing that day. He mentioned something about soccer, but Yugi wasn't really paying attention. He was talking quietly with Ryou about the new info they had gathered on Pegasus' activities. Apparently he had made a deal with a few shady politicians in Mexico to help transport a large shipment of drugs to America in exchange for seven hundred thousand dollars. Money which would most likely be used to build up his nuclear weapons.

"_So what is going to happen now?" _Ryou asked.

"_We need more information on the time the shipment will take place," _Yugi replied. "_Until we know that, we'll have to depend on the U.S. Alter Base to infiltrate the warehouses where the drugs are being stored."_

_"Do you think Mahaado will send us over there to help out?"_

_"Probably not. That is a Level C mission, and he can't afford to send us to America when we have this Level A mission to deal with. The U.S.A.B. soldiers can handle that without us. But when we get home, I want you to contact Control back on A.I. and write down all the new info they have. I also want you to find out when Pegasus will leave for America and his travel schedule. And inform the U.S.A.B. Control team that I'll be watching their actions."_

_"Yes, sir." _Ryou replied with a nod.

"Guys, pay attention," Jou whispered to them. "Before the coach gets mad. Talk about that at lunch."

"Does everyone understand the rules?" the coach asked the group. Everyone nodded, though unenthusiastically. "Alright then! Let's play soccer! Come on, get up and out onto the field!" The students groaned but got up anyway, and headed outside. Yugi, Malik, Jou, and Ryou headed over to one side of the field while Yami, Marik, Seto, and Bakura headed to the other.

"I wish I was in the freshman class," Bakura complained as he looked over across the field where the freshman P.E. class was playing dodge ball.

"Or better yet, the sophomores," Marik said, pointing to the sophomores who were heading up to the weight room.

"You chose soccer," Seto said as he walked behind them. "You could have headed with the girls and gone walking around the neighborhood."

"But that's so boring!" Marik whined.

"Not my problem," the brunette replied with a shrug.

"I really do not want to play this stupid game," Yami said while handing out blue jerseys to the rest of his team.

"You never want to do anything," Bakura replied, putting the blue jersey on over his head. "For once just loosen up and have some fun."

"Does that mean I can hit the ball at the brat's head?" Yami asked with a smirk as he looked across the field at Yugi who was stretching.

"Do what you want, but I don't think it'll be that easy. The kid's pretty fast," Marik said. "But either way, I get to block Malik."

"Maybe I can trip him," Yami said.

"You really do get off on the weirdest things," Seto said, shaking his head.

The coach blew his whistle again, and the game began. It was fine at first, and each team was playing fairly. Yami and Yugi hadn't gotten near each other at all, and the others were glad for that. Yami's team scored a goal in the first ten minutes, thanks to Marik. The blonde did a weird victory dance, and Malik had to turn away to keep from laughing. Though Marik had already seen his smile.

Fifteen minutes in, Yugi walked over to the bleachers to get a drink from his water bottle, when he spotted Yami rush after the ball. He watched the teen kick the ball to some other player before looking over at him. Their eyes made contact, and they glared at each other. Yami then flipped him off before chasing after the ball again. A surge of anger raced through Yugi, and he threw down his bottle before storming back on the field.

"What did he do now?" Ryou asked when he saw Yugi's angry expression.

"He flipped me off! That egotistical, stubborn, bastard! Give me the ball, Ryou," Yugi replied.

"If you say so. But aim it at the goal, not Yami's head."

"We'll see." The two ran down the field after the ball. Ryou passed to Yugi, who charged towards the other team's goal. He easily dodged the other players, using his talents to keep the ball away from them. Suddenly Yami was running beside him, trying to kick the ball away from him. 'Over my dead body, jackass,' Yugi thought, speeding up.

But he just couldn't get away from Yami. The teen had somehow managed to run in front of him, and Yugi couldn't turn in time. So Yugi fell to the ground, and the ball rolled away from him. "Tough luck, loser," Yami snickered, before kicking the ball away. Yugi growled and jumped up, chasing after Yami.

'I'll get him for that,' the agent thought, catching up with the other teen. Yami kicked the ball to Bakura, who kicked it to Seto, who kicked it back to Yami. But Yugi got in front of Yami, and caught the ball before the other teen had a chance. Yugi flipped Yami off before running to the other side of the field. Yami tried to catch up with him, but Yugi was too far ahead. The agent dodged all the other players and kicked the ball straight into the goal.

Yugi and the rest of his team cheered their goal, while Yami watched with utter disdain. The coach then blew the whistle, signaling a quick break. "That was a pretty good move," Marik said as he jogged up to Yami. "You gotta admit, the kid is pretty good."

"He's a pest," Yami seethed.

"You are just annoyed he took the ball back from you," Bakura commented while taking a sip from his water. He turned back to the bleachers to put up his water when he groaned. "Oh no, the girls are back."

The other two looked over to the bleachers, and sure enough the girls were sitting there cheering for the boys. And, of course, the loudest was Anzu, who was cheering Yami on. 'Just great,' Yami thought. 'Now I'm going to be distracted.' But he still walked over to talk to her, because that's what good boyfriends did. Even though he would have rather been run over at that time.

"Poor guy," Jou said as he and the others walked up to Marik and Bakura. "He's gotta entertain the witch now."

"Is she really that bad?" Malik asked. They all turned when they heard Anzu squeal, and watched as she attached herself to Yami.

"She's worse than you think. She's not really a bad person, she's just a manipulative, heartless bitch," Seto answered.

"Then she's perfect for Yami," Yugi replied as he took a sip of his water. "I wish them many years of unhappiness."

"You are just too nice," Marik snickered.

"It's a talent," Yugi replied with a shrug. The coach blew the whistle again, and the players headed back to the field, and the game started again. Things progressed normally, until Yugi got the ball again. Refusing to be upstaged again, Yami raced after him and tried to get the ball away. The teen tried to kick the ball away, but ended up tripping Yugi. "Idiot!" the agent yelled. "Watch what you are doing!"

"You gotta pay attention, brat," Yami spat back.

"You were the one who tripped me, jackass!" Yugi yelled in reply as he got up.

Yami was about to reply, but Bakura ran up and covered his mouth. "You two will get in trouble if you keep arguing," he warned, butit was too late. The coach was already on his way over.

"What's going on here?" he asked sternly. "Did you trip him again, Yami?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"You fell on your own, loser!"

"You stuck your big foot in front of me!"

"SILENCE!" the coach yelled, catching the attention of everyone one the field and in the bleachers. "You two obviously can't play together, so I'm pulling the both of you out of the game. And I don't want to hear any complaints!" he said as Yugi and Yami both opened their mouths to say something. "Now go sit down!" The two look-a-likes angrily walked over to the bleachers where they sat away from each other. They were mad as hell at each other. It was the other's fault that the coach yelled at them! Yami angrily kicked at the ground, while Yugi crushed his water bottle. It was so not fair! Things would be so much better if the other would just disappear forever! If only that would happen.

They silently watched the rest of the game from the bleachers, not even looking at one another. In the end Yugi's team won by one point. Not that it mattered to the two teens. They were still too pissed off to care who won. The coach then told the students to go in and change, but as Yami and Yugi were walking off, he called them over. So the two silently walked over to the coach, and waited for his lecture.

"I am very disappointed in you two," he said, looking back and forth between them. "You two are such good players. If you two could work together, I would love to have you on the soccer team. But you two choose to be rivals instead. I figured you two had more common sense than that. Especially you, Yami."

Yami just rolled his eyes, and looked away. He didn't really care what the coach said. He would never work with Yugi on anything if he could help it. The coach sighed then turned to Yugi. "I don't know how you were at your old school, but I don't accept that behavior here," he said. "See that it doesn't happen again." Yugi just nodded but stayed silent. "Fine. Go shower and change. I'll give you late passes."

The two quickly headed towards the gym, and into the locker room. The gym was completely empty since the bell had already rung. Which meant Yami and Yugi were stuck alone there with no one to stop them if they got into another fight. Lucky them. So the two headed to the showers, hoping to get out of there quickly.

Yami entered the shower, and turned on the hot water. 'Damnit all, that asshole got me in trouble. And I have another class with him after this. I really don't want to deal with him anymore. And everyone acts like he's so perfect and wonderful. I wish he would just go back to England or wherever. As long as he's far away from me.' Hearing the other shower turn off, Yami opened the stall door a crack. He didn't want to look at Yugi, he just wanted to make sure that the other wasn't going to pull something. The thought of checking out the other's body made Yami sick.

Yugi walked out of the stall with a towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets clung to his ivory skin, and traveled down his body in little rivulets. His hair was dripping wet, and the bangs clung to his face, which was flushed from the heat of the shower. 'He's built like a girl,' Yami thought, looking at the other boy's thin, slightly curvy frame. But Yami could see that the other definitely had muscles. He looked weak, but Yami could tell he was anything but.

Yugi then walked back to the lockers, and Yami turned off his shower. 'At least he hasn't tried anything yet.' Yami wrapped a towel around himself, and stepped out, heading towards his locker. And his locker just happened to be across from Yugi's. He just had the best luck. When he walked over, he noticed that Yugi had put on his boxers, but nothing else. The teen was currently too busy towel drying his hair to notice that Yami had come in. That or he was ignoring him.

'Little brat,' he thought, opening his own locker. He quickly put on his boxers, then turned to drop the towel on the bench behind him. But as he did he noticed something on Yugi's lower back. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but he just wasn't expecting to see it. Tilting his head slightly, his eyes widened a fraction when he realized he was looking at a scar. It was a very pale scar across the small of his back, but for some reason it stood out so plainly to Yami. Since Yugi hadn't noticed that Yami was looking yet, the teen continued to scan Yugi's back.

He was surprised to see that there were scars all over Yugi's back. One would never notice them unless they were looking for them, but there they were. Scars all over his back, his arms, his legs, his neck. They were probably on his chest as well. 'Where the hell did he get all of them?' Yami thought as he turned back to his locker. Could it be that someone gave him those scars? Though Yami hated Yugi with a passion, he would never physically harm him. Who would be so mad as to do something like that to Yugi?

'Stop worrying,' he told himself. 'It's not my problem. He probably did something to deserve them.' But even as he said that, he couldn't agree with those words. Yami absolutely hated people who hurt innocents for no reason. And scarring Yugi's body completely was going too far. But there was nothing he could do. And there was no way he was going to tell Yugi he saw them. Just because he saw the scars, didn't mean he was going to start caring for the brat.

He heard Yugi getting dressed behind him, and quickly did the same. He wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. If he rushed now, he would still have five minutes of homeroom to relax. He put on his jacket just as Yugi closed his locker. Without a word the other grabbed his bag and walked out of the locker room. 'He really is just a selfish little punk,' Yami thought as he walked out of the room. Heading over to the coach's room, Yami got his late pass and left the gym in time to see Yugi disappear around a corner down the hall.

--------

Downtown, in the heart of Domino, people were rushing to and from work, trying to finish errands, and make it to business meetings on time. They rushed in and out of office buildings, and no building was more active than Industrial Illusions. The building towered over the rest of Domino, casting a shadow over it's competitors.

And on the top floor sat Maximillion Pegasus, CEO. He stood in his office, looking out at Domino from the window. Life was going well for him. His company was surpassing all gaming companies except for Kaiba Corp. His wealth and power were growing everyday. His adopted son, Yami, was one of the top students in Japan and was being considered by the best colleges in the world. And his plans for world domination were coming along smoothly. Yes, everything was perfect. So far.

It had come to his attention that Alter had caught on to his plans. That damn organization and their ridiculous mission to protect the world. They were just a bunch of hypocrites! They had a hand in every government in the world, but they said they didn't want any one person to rule. They just didn't want to lose their influence. So they sent out their agents to stop others and called it 'saving the world.' The agents were nothing but machines trained to kill at a moments notice. Nothing more than mercenaries who would gladly spill blood for money. It was sickening.

And the fact that they used children was even worse! Sure, Pegasus had teenagers working for him, but at least he didn't train three year olds like Alter. But Pegasus wasn't about to pass himself off as good or noble. He was far from it, and he knew it. And he loved it. He had far too much fun being evil to consider turning over a new leaf.

"Mr. Pegasus," a female voice called over his intercom.

"What is it?" he asked, running a hand through his long, silver hair.

"The designs for the gaming system have arrived. Also, you have a call from Russia concerning the shipment of weapons you sent them last week."

"And what is the problem with them?" Pegasus asked, taking a seat in his chair.

"I don't know, sir. The man wouldn't tell me anything. He keeps demanding to talk to you."

"I don't have time to deal with trivial things like that. Tell him to call the warehouse at the air field, and let them deal with it."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, has there been any Alter activity lately?"

"I don't believe so, sir. According to these reports from the scouts, the military base has been fairly quiet as of late. And the J.A.B. hasn't had any new agent arrivals in two weeks."

"I see," Pegasus mumbled. What were those Alter bastards planning? If they knew of his plans, they should have sent swarms of agents to Domino to get him. Unless they were planning on making this a covert operation. Could that be why the reports have been so uninteresting? Had Alter already sent agents into Domino in disguise? Most likely, but how many? Damn those sneaky agents! But Pegasus had to admit, they did a good job. Too good of a job. "Yumi," he called to his secretary.

"Yes, sir?"

"Has there been any activity at the ports lately?"

"Besides the navy submarine docking at the military ports, nothing. Though according to this report, the scout noticed that there were a lot of soldiers around the sub at all times. More than what is needed for a simple repair."

"Really. Tell the scout I want him to get as close as possible to the sub, and to take pictures of everything that goes in and out of it. And tell Keichi to raise security at the warehouses."

"Right away, sir. Anything else?"

"Yes, get Yami on the phone." 'Alter isn't going to take any chances with this one. They are going to send out their best to try and take me down. And there is only one place those agents can hide.' Pegasus smirked as he heard the ringing of Yami's phone.

"What the fuck do you want, Pegasus? I'm in class," Yami replied angrily in a hushed tone.

"Is that anyway to speak to your parent?" Pegasus replied with amusement.

"Cut the crap, and get to it. I don't feel like being caught with a phone in the bathroom."

"Have any new students transferred to the school lately?"

There was silence on the other line for a minute before Yami replied. "Three, why?"

'So I was right,' Pegasus thought. 'Those three have snuck into Domino without my knowing, and are passing themselves off as normal high school students.' "Do you know anything about them?"

"No. Like I give a fuck about their personal lives."

"I want you to break into school records tonight and get as much information on them as you can."

"Why? And why me? You have plenty of idiots who'd gladly do it."

"Because I think it would be amusing. Besides, you haven't had a job in a while."

"Yea, because this is my dream job. Breaking into school at night and getting you files on three kids." Yami replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I keep offering you jobs to help out at the docks or air fields, but you never take them. I even offer you jobs here at the office. Legal, honest jobs, yet you don't take them either."

"Last time I helped smuggle your damn weapons out, I had to kill those two security guards at the air field. And office work isn't for me. But what is this really about, because you are wasting my time."

"Such a short temper," Pegasus said with a dramatic sigh. "But I just want some information on your new classmates. The whole past week you were complaining about the new students who kept angering you."

"What the fuck are you keeping from me, damnit?" Yami asked suspiciously.

"Watch your language, Yami," Pegasus replied with a smirk.

"Fine, I'll get you your damn info. But don't fucking call me in school!"

"Fine, fine," Pegasus responded with a chuckle. "Then I'll see you tonight, son." He heard a disgusted sigh on the other line before it hung up. He leaned back in his chair with a smirk as he turned back to look out the window. 'Three new students. And one came last year. Very sneaky, Alter. You think you can hide those four from me, but you're very wrong. They won't be able to stop me, and I'll get rid of them before they can try. But would like to see how they've improved. Especially my adorable little Kit. I can't wait to meet him again.'

-------

It was finally time for lunch, and the agents couldn't have been happier. Finally a break from the boredom that was school. And it was a chance to escape from Yami for a while, something Yugi was very thankful for. Too bad lunch didn't last forever. The four were currently sitting on the roof of the school just relaxing. Jou and Malik were playing a card game, Ryou was reading, and Yugi was just lying down with his head in Ryou's lap.

"So what did he do after?" Malik asked Yugi before handing Jou a pair of queens.

"He pretended as if he hadn't done a thing," Yugi answered angrily. He had just finished telling the others about the latest trick Yami pulled. In the previous class, Algebra, the teacher had asked Yami to pick up the test papers and hand them out to the students. But after he put down Yugi's paper, he elbowed the agent in the side of the head. "Marik saw it too. And then he just walked off! Evil bastard!"

"You poor thing," Ryou cooed, rubbing the now slightly bruised temple. "He really has it out for you."

"I don't get it! What have I done to him?" Yugi exclaimed. "Is it because I look like him? Is it because I breathe the same air? Did I do something to him in a past life or something?"

"I gotta admit, he is taking this a bit too far," Jou said. "I thought he'd just ignore you or something. Malik, got any twos?"

"Go fish," Malik replied. "Are you going to get him back for that? Give me those queens."

"I still don't know what I'm going to do," Yugi admitted as he thought. "This is the second physical attack, not counting him tripping me on the soccer field."

"But you know you can't physically harm him," Ryou said. "Alter doesn't allow agents to attack defenseless civilians for any reason. Besides, you would probably end up doing more damage than planned."

"I know, and it sucks!" Yugi replied with a pout. "He's allowed to do all this shit, and yet I can't kick his ass. And even if I threatened to do it, Mahaado would find out and he'd give me a lecture. There's gotta be something I can do."

"Why don't you just ignore him?" Jou suggested. "You don't have to stoop to his level, you know. He'll get bored eventually."

"Jou does have a point," Malik said.

"You know I don't have the patience to put up with shit like this. It either goes smoothly, or I don't deal with it."

"But you can't treat him like a soldier," Ryou said. "He's a civilian, and to him, you are too. He's not trained to follow the orders of a superior officer."

"Yes, but if he was a soldier, I would so have him discharged," Yugi replied with an evil grin. "That, or I'd humiliate him by kicking his ass at a sparring match."

"You are horrible," Ryou said with a sigh. "Do you hate him that much?

"Yes! The jackass must die!" Yugi yelled. "He's been nothing but an arrogant, annoying pain in my ass since I got here. Everyday he does something else to piss me off, and he actually enjoys doing it! He goes out of his way to mess everything up, and I absolutely loathe him! If it wasn't for that damn rule, I would have beaten him to a pulp already."

"You guys remember a few years ago, when we were in China?" Malik asked. "And that female agent kept challenging Jou to fights because she secretly had a crush on him."

"Ugh! Don't remind me of that!" Jou complained as a shiver ran down his spine.

"You think this is the same situation?" Ryou asked. "That Yami's being mean to hide his feelings?"

"Ew! That is completely disgusting!" Yugi yelled as he sat up. "I don't want to think of that bastard having any feelings for me. I'd rather he hate me forever!"

"Well, it sounds the same. And sometimes little boys tease girls because they like them," Jou said. "So maybe he does secretly like you. But it's not his style to pick on people."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut the hell up!" Yugi said while covering his ears. "I don't want to think about it! I don't want you to think about it! This conversation is over!"

"Could it be that you are embarrassed?" Malik teased.

"Maybe you like him back," Jou said with a smirk.

"Scarab, Pup, if you keep talking about that, I'll have you deported back to A.I.!" Yugi warned.

"Aww, you can tell us if you like him. I think it's so cute," Jou continued.

"Ryou, make them stop!" Yugi whined as he dove into Ryou's arms.

"Stop teasing him, you two," Ryou scolded as he pet Yugi's head. "Can't you see the boy is traumatized by that thought?"

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry, Yugi," Malik said, even though he was still smiling. "Forgive me?"

"No."

"B-But…Ryou!"

"Well, you deserve it," Ryou replied. A low, vibrating sound was suddenly heard, and they all turned to Ryou's schoolbag. Picking it up, the agent opened the front pocket and took out a cell phone. "Hello? Oh hi, Nee-san!"

"Hi, Nee-san!" the other three said in unison.

"Nee-san, Jou and Malik are being mean to me, and they won't stop!" Yugi complained. He heard chuckling from the other side, and pouted. "Nee-san, don't laugh!

"I said I was sorry," Malik said.

"I don't care!"

"So why are you calling, Nee-san?" Ryou asked. He was silent for a while as he listened to the other person. "Nee-san says the blueprints for the new jet have just come in. And the weapons Yugi requested came in this morning. She wants to know if we are coming by the base later to check them out, or if she should distribute them to the soldiers now."

"I want to check them out first," Yugi replied. "I'm going to test them before any soldier gets them. And have the blueprints ready for me as well. And send a message to the overseer telling him that I want that jet delivered here as soon as it's ready."

"You're seriously going to fly that thing?" Jou asked, astonished. "It's not called The Reaper for nothing you know. Not even _I_ can fix the problem."

Yugi shrugged. "Either way, someone is going to die by that plane. So why should I be afraid of using it?"

"Nee-san says you are completely crazy for thinking about flying that plane. And that she'll tie you to a chair and lock you in a storage room if you ever try to get in it," Ryou said.

"Just have the blueprints ready for me when I get there," Yugi repeated.

"She says fine, but she's going to have a long talk with Mahaado about him letting you fly such a dangerous piece of junk."

"Mahaado's going to love that," Malik said with a chuckle.

"He'll be too afraid to open the door," Jou added with a laugh.

"Alright, Nee-san, we'll see you after school. Bye," said Ryou.

"Bye, Nee-san!" the others added. Ryou then hung up, and put the phone back in the bag.

"Looks like lunch is almost over," stated Malik as he glanced down at his watch. "Too bad. I don't want to go to my next class. Stupid world history."

"You'd think with your sister's civilian job as a museum director, you'd love history," Jou said while shaking his head.

"I don't hate history. But I got enough lessons back home. Why should I have to learn all this stuff again?" Malik complained as he and the others stood up. They began to head down the stairs to be in time for the bell.

"Because life's a bitch and hates everyone," Yugi muttered crankily when he saw Yami down the hall. "Thank the gods I don't have class with him next. Even though me taking English is completely ridiculous."

"Well, at least you'll get good grades. After all, you have been living in England with Ryou for the past few years," Jou teased, referring back to their story.

"How do you think I feel?" Ryou said. "Me taking a class on how to speak English. It pains me to hear these people speak," he added with a sigh. "And the teacher is no better. I'm more qualified to teach that class than he is. Good thing I don't have to suffer alone."

"I'm honored to suffer right beside you," Yugi replied jokingly. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Suddenly the quiet halls were filled with students frantically trying to get to their classes on time. Yugi and Ryou waved to Jou and Malik before entering the stream of students. As the two were heading down to their English class, they passed Yami and Seto, who were heading in the opposite direction. For a brief second, Yami and Yugi's eyes met. And while Yami glared at him, Yugi just looked away. He wasn't going to be dragged down again.

-------

Finally it was the end of the school day. The last bell rang, and hundreds of students ran out of the buildings, happy that they were finally free once again. The parking lot suddenly sprang to life as students piled into cars and raced out of the parking lot. Malik, Ryou, and Yugi met up at the SUV while they waited for Jou to show up. Apparently he had turned in his chemistry review packet late and was being scolded at by the teacher.

"You'd think Jou of all people would remember to turn it in," Malik mumbled as he draped himself over the hood of the car.

"I think he forgot to do it because he was too busy working on the schematics for that French Alter sub," Ryou said quietly. "From what I hear, it's supposed to be the first sub to try out that new engine system."

"I'll have a talk with him later," Yugi said while looking up at the sky. "He can give that work to another technician. I don't want him thinking of anything other than this mission."

"He won't be happy, you know," Malik said. "He's been working on the details of that engine for a while now."

"Well he needs to stop. If he gets in trouble with the school that will be a hindrance, and I'm not dealing with it. Jou has more brains than that."

"Jou and brains don't belong in the same sentence," a voice said from behind them.

"Say what you want, Seto," Yugi replied, glancing over at the brunette who had just walked up. "But Jou is smarter than you think. And I have years of experience to back that up."

"And yet he acts like a complete imbecile," Seto said, opening his Jaguar.

"Talking about me, Kaiba?" Jou spat as he, Yami, Bakura, and Marik walked over. "Don't you know it's not nice to talk about someone behind their back?"

"But it's perfectly fine to insult mutts. After all, who cares what they think," Seto replied, getting in his car. He then started the Jaguar and drove out of the parking lot.

"Damn bastard! I absolutely hate that prick," Jou mumbled, pulling out the keys to the SUV. "Yami, why can't you do something about him?"

"Like what?" the teen asked, leaning against his Escalade.

"Figure something out! He's your cousin!"

_"No wonder they both act like conceited pricks,"_ Yugi muttered, and Malik and Ryou had to cover their mouths to stifle their laughter. Yami turned to Yugi and glared at the agent, but Yugi just stared back evenly..

"I don't think Yami would be much help anyway," Bakura said as he got into his silver Mitsubishi Eclipse. "They're too much alike."

"I'm nothing like that hard ass," Yami grumbled.

"I beg to differ," Marik said, getting on his Yamaha. "You're both arrogant, selfish, spoiled, hard headed, manipulative, evil bastards."

"Hey! You take that back!" Yami yelled. "I am not a bastard!"

"You're right, sorry," the blonde said through his laughter. "You aren't a bastard."

"Jou, let's go," Yugi said seriously. "We've wasted too much time."

"Sorry for being a waste of your precious time," Yami commented angrily.

"You are a waste of a life," Yugi replied quickly, before getting into the SUV. Jou threw Yami an apologetic look before he climbed in. Ryou and Malik waved goodbye to the others before getting in as well. Jou then started the engine and backed out, before driving away.

-------

Twenty minutes later, Jou pulled up to the security gate of the military base. After showing his pass to the guard, the gate lifted up and Jou drove into the parking lot. The four agents got out and entered the large main building. The second they walked in through the automatic doors they were swarmed by military and Alter officers.

"Welcome back, Sirs," a middle aged man said as he and the others saluted.

Yugi and the other three saluted back. "Anything new happen?" Yugi asked as he started walking to the opposite end of the building, the others following him. He then exited the main building, and entered the large warehouse behind it. Jou and Malik then walked off to check on the progress being made to the sub.

"We sent the message about the jet to A.I. and have received a reply," the middle aged man said as he walked beside Yugi. "They said the plane will be here in two weeks."

"Too long. I want it here in one week," Yugi replied, looking over a document that was just handed to him.

"One?" the man asked in surprise. "But in two weeks they might have found a solution to the problem."

"I have already accepted that there is no solution," Yugi said while signing the document. "I want it in the hangar in one week. If they have a problem, they can quit."

"Yes, Sir," the man said, before walking off.

"Kitsune, Sir," a blonde woman from the group said, "the weapons you wanted are waiting in storage room five."

"Thank you. White," Yugi called to the other agent. "Go find Nee-san and tell her to meet me there in ten minutes."

"Yes, Sir," Ryou replied before taking off.

More files were handed to Yugi as he and the group walked through the warehouse, checking on how things were going. As they walked, the soldiers and agents stopped to salute Yugi. Most weren't even paying attention to their tasks anymore as they were too busy staring at (drooling over) the young agent. Yugi knew they were staring at him, but he didn't mind. In a way it was fun.

"Hey, you," he called to a Brazilian female agent who was operating a crane. "Your name's Maple, right?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied with a blush, happy that Yugi had remembered her code name.

"When you are done here, I want you to go to storage room seven and take down the replacement parts for the tank that was damaged."

"Roger," she said.

Yugi then turned and walked away towards storage room five. "Sir, we have a report from the Indonesian Alter Base," the blonde woman. "They believe they have found an air field where nuclear weapons are being stored."

"Is it Pegasus?"

"They don't know yet. They are sending troops there as we speak."

"If it has nothing to do with Pegasus, I'm not interested. Send the report to Mahaado and have Control on A.I. monitor the progress," the teen said in a bored tone. Finally they reached the storage room, where they saw the three other agents and a woman waiting for them.

"Kitten, you've finally arrived!" the woman squealed, running up to Yugi and pulling him into a hug.

"Nee-san, don't call me Kitten," Yugi pouted. "It's Kitsune."

"But you are just so cuddly," the woman replied before letting him go. She was a woman of thirty five with long, blonde hair, and dark violet eyes. She had fair skin, big, red lips, and was well endowed. She wore a light brown shirt, jeans, and a white lab coat. On the left side of the coat was a red cross inside a gold diamond, meaning she was one of the directors of Control, and a very important person in Alter. "I can't help but want to call you kitten."

"Mai, come on!" Yugi pouted again. "It's embarrassing," he said glancing back at the officers behind him. They all had smiles on their faces from watching their boss get cuddled by his surrogate sister. Yugi began to call her Nee-san when he was four, because she would baby sit him and Jou all the time. When Malik and Ryou met her, they started to call her sister as well.

"Fine, fine. Time to get to work," Mai said, pulling Yugi over to the others who were standing by a crate. "Here are the GSE A2M4 rifles. All these guns are in perfect condition," she said, opening the lid. "The pistols are in the crate over there as well as the ammunition," Mai continued, pointing to another crate.

"Good," Yugi replied, picking up one of the large rifles, and inspecting it. "The barrel seems to be a bit tight," he stated. "Doesn't open so easily. Scarab, I want you to look over all of these before giving them to the soldiers." Malik nodded and wrote something down in a folder he held in his hands. After some more inspection, and a few practice tests, Yugi was finally satisfied. "Ok, then. Everything is fine," he said placing the rifle back down. "Lets go to the office to look at those blueprints."

He headed towards the exit, when he suddenly stopped and started looking around. There was someone hiding in the room. Yugi couldn't tell where, but he could definitely sense it. The others noticed as well, and began looking for the person. "You can't sneak up on me," Yugi said with a smirk. "Might as well come out now."

"Aww," a male voice said from above them. "You always ruin my fun, Kitten." A figure dropped from the rafters above them and landed in front of Yugi.

"Stop calling me Kitten," Yugi complained as he was pulled into another hug.

"But Nee-san is right, you are so cuddly!" the male cooed, nuzzling his cheek against Yugi's. This nineteen year old male was called Kyoji. He was a head taller than Yugi, with light brown hair, and bright silver eyes. With soft, pale skin and boyish good looks, he was very popular amongst the soldiers.

"See! It's not just me that thinks so," Mai chirped. "Thank you for agreeing with me, Kyoji."

"No, problem, Mai," Kyoji winked. He then wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist, and brushed back his light brown hair. "Yugi's just the cutest thing ever."

"Cyclone, let go of me," Yugi demanded, calling Kyoji by his agent name.

"No!" Kyoji said, clinging to Yugi even more. "Admit it, you looove me!" he said, his silver eyes shining with amusement.

"Finally, love interest number one makes his move," Jou said, and Malik and Ryou chuckled. Yugi glared at them while trying to pry Kyoji off. "But where is number two?"

"I'm sure he'll appear sooner or later," Ryou said. "He won't let Kyoji monopolize Yugi for too long.

"That prick ain't getting my Yugi!" Kyoji yelled, hugging Yugi tighter. "He doesn't love Yugi! He's just a perverted sicko!"

"Aww, my poor, little Kyoji is jealous," Yugi teased while ruffling Kyoji's hair. "That's so cute," he said, giving Kyoji a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not jealous, because I know you love me more! No one is taking you from me, and that includes you, Malik!" the brunette said, glaring at the Egyptian.

"Just wait and see, loser," Malik replied, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"But I wonder where number two is," Mai said. "He should have been here by now." Just then a loud yell was heard, and footsteps were heard rapidly approaching. "Ah, here he comes."

"KYOJI! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP SNEAKING AWAY FROM YOUR WORK!" a male voice shouted as the person approached the storage room. Suddenly in the doorway appeared a man. This man was twenty five years old, and was very handsome. He had long, light blue hair pulled back in a ponytail and bright green eyes full of anger. His lightly tanned skin was flushed red with anger, and at 5'10" he looked very menacing. In his hand was a tablet which was slowly being bent in half, and he looked like he wanted to throw it at someone.

"Calm down, Tsuno," Yugi replied with a smile. "He just came to say hi."

Immediately the male calmed down, and all traces of anger disappeared. "Welcome back, Yugi," he said with a dazzling smile, walking up to the agent. "You should have told me you arrived."

"If I had, I wouldn't have made it through the door without you two ganging up on me," the teen replied with a chuckle. "Besides, Mai knew we were coming."

"Yes, it seems like she forgot to mention that," he said, glancing over at the woman who chuckled sheepishly. "But if you don't mind, I need to drag that moron back to his work."

"Don't call me a moron, you dick!" Kyoji spat back.

"Don't fight, you two. Or I'll have to punish you both," Yugi said with a smirk.

"Is that a promise?" Kyoji asked with his own smirk. "Cause I've been bad today."

"I bet you have. But now, I have to go do work. You should get back to your work as well. Before you make poor Tsuno go insane."

"Fine, I'll get back to work," Kyoji grumbled, finally releasing Yugi. "But you better come see me before you leave! And stay away from this jackass," he said, pointing to Tsuno.

"Respect your superiors, idiot," Tsuno said, hitting Kyoji with the tablet. "And as for you, Yugi," he said, turning to the agent who looked up at him innocently. "When you get tired of playing with the kid, come find me," he whispered huskily into Yugi's ear.

"You think you can do better than him?" Yugi replied, his smirk growing larger.

"You know it," Tsuno answered with a wink. "I know how to satisfy you."

"Come on, Tsuno! We have a lot of work to do," Kyoji said, completely annoyed. "Let's go!" He then pulled Tsuno away from Yugi, and with a wave they disappeared.

"Boy, you are so lucky, Yugi," Mai said with a sigh. "To have two hotties always after you like that."

Yugi just shrugged and laughed. "It's so fun to tease them."

"He's such a player," Jou said proudly. "Now lets get to work before Kyoji sneaks away to molest Yugi again."

"I really wouldn't mind that so much," the young agent said with a smile. "It'll bring some excitement to this boring day."

-------

It was midnight in Domino, and all the streets were empty. The only lights came from the business district because of business men working overnight, and from the clubs and bars. Occasionally a car would drive down a road, breaking the silence that had fallen over the town. Most people were sleeping soundly in their warm beds, resting their bodies for the hectic day to come. But there was one person who was still creeping about in the night.

The masked man parked his car a block away from Domino High School, and got out quietly. He scanned the neighborhood for a second before heading towards the massive building in front of him. Instead of climbing over the front gate, the figure headed to the left side of the school where the gym was. Quickly climbing up a tree, the man jumped over the brick wall and landed on the ground with a quiet thud.

Heading over towards a shed, the man pulled out a piece of paper with three numbers on it. Reaching for the lock, he quickly turned the dial and heard all three tumblers fall in place. Opening the shed, he walked to the back towards a large circuit board. Crimson eyes scanned over the switches till he finally found one that said 'security system'. With a smirk he flipped it to 'off' then headed back outside, leaving the shed open for later.

'Too easy,' he thought, finally pulling off his mask and letting his wild, tri-colored hair free. Looking over to the main building, Yami began to head towards the window of the principal's office. Outside the office was a large tree, with branches that reached the building. Yami quickly climbed the tree, then walked across a large branch that ended right before an air vent. He pulled out a small screw driver from his back pocket and began to open the vent.

When that was done, he placed the metal cover on the branch. He then took a deep breath and climbed inside the vent, thanking the gods for his slender frame. For a minute he crawled through the vent, till he reached the vent in the principals office. After a few minutes of fumbling, he had managed to unscrew the vent and it dropped to the ground with a loud clank. He then dropped from the ceiling, and headed over to the principal's computer.

Turning it on, Yami searched through the files till he found one called 'student records'. "Far too easy," he said while clicking on it. But when he was asked for a password the male froze. What was that damn password again? He knew it a few months ago. How could he have forgotten it so soon? Looking around the room, he tried to find a clue as to what the stupid word could be. His crimson eyes locked onto a large sword that was hanging on the wall on the other side of the room. 'Samurai! Of course!' he thought, typing in the word.

Once the file opened, he began to scroll through the grades and names, till he reached 'Bakura, Ryou.' Turning on the printer behind him, he opened the file and printed the document without bothering to look at it. Once that was done, he looked for 'Ishtar, Malik,' and repeated the process. Finally it was time to search for 'Mouto, Yugi'. Scrolling down some more, he at last reached the file. Opening it immediately, he clicked the print button but left the file open. He wanted to read it badly.

Honor roll student since third grade, 'A's in every class, volunteered at a children's hospital in England, model student, was on student council at old school. 'He's such a goody goody. At least to everyone else. I still think he's a brat. What else is there?' Reading on, he began to look over the area about family. Parents deceased. Guardian is his grandfather and godfather. Lives with cousin in grandfather's house. 'I didn't know his parents were dead. Just like mine. But how can he be so happy all the damn time?'

Looking through it more, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Same with the other two files. 'Why the fuck is Pegasus so interested in them? He's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what.' He then looked at the large student picture on the left side of the page, and glared at it. 'Because of you, school has become hell. The one place where I could escape from all the shit in my life has been ruined. All because you decided to transfer here. I absolutely hate everything about you. You completely annoy me…and yet I still don't know why. I suppose now I hate you because you've been a pest, but I still don't know why I hated you in the first place.'

He examined the picture of the smiling boy for a second longer, staring into the large amethyst eyes. 'This kid will kill me before the year is over. And I have to admit, it will be fun to see how he does it.' Yami hadn't realized it yet, but he had been thinking of Yugi almost all the time since the first minute he saw him. He was always trying to plot against the boy, or was thinking bad things about him. Had he known exactly how much time he spent thinking about the boy, Yami would have hung himself.

His watch then beeped one, and Yami blinked. Had it really been an hour? With a sigh he closed the file, then turned off the computer and put the papers in a folder. Grabbing the cover for the air vent, Yami stood on a chair and pulled himself up the opening. He then positioned the cover in a way that no one would be able to tell it had been removed. He'd come back another time and close it properly, providing it hadn't already fallen down. Crawling through to the exit, he grabbed the tree branch and dragged his body out. Quickly closing the outside vent, he jumped down and headed towards the shed. He flipped the switch for the security system back to 'on', then closed the shed, climbed the fence, and headed to his car.

'Pegasus doesn't give me enough credit,' he thought as he drove away from the school. 'He gave me such an easy job. It was too easy. If he's going to make me help him with his stupid plans, the least he could do is give me something challenging. I wouldn't even care if it involved combat. At least it would be something, even if I think that the entire thing is completely ridiculous. Taking over the world. Really, how childish is that? I hope Alter takes him down again, just to crush his spirit.'

He then heard a beeping, and reached for his cell phone on the seat beside him. Stopping at a red, he flipped the cover open and looked down at the name. With a sigh he pressed talk. "What do you want now?"

"I was just wondering how you were doing," came the annoyingly smug voice of Pegasus.

"I got you your damn info. You don't have to call." Did Pegasus think he snuck around the school in the middle of the night just to leave without the stuff.

"I was getting worried," the other said with amusement in his voice.

"You just wanted to make sure I was doing the job. You couldn't give a fuck if anything happened," the teen replied with anger. He always knew Pegasus didn't give a fuck about anyone other than himself.

"Now how can you say that? I do care about you. You are my son." Pegasus replied in a mock sad voice.

"Normally fathers wouldn't make their sons sneak around the middle of the night and break into places." 'And I'm not your son, you sick bastard.'

"Admit you enjoy the thrill. Otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to do it."

"I hate it."

"Then why do you always do such a good job?"

"Because everyone else who works for you is a complete moron."

"While that maybe true, you can't deny the fact that you enjoy taking on these jobs."

"We'll talk about this another time. If I fall asleep in school tomorrow, I'm going to tell them why," Yami said as he pulled up the driveway of the mansion. He hung up the phone and stepped out of his car, grabbing the file before heading up to the door. After entering the house and shooing away the maids who began to fuss over him, he headed to Pegasus' office. Without even knocking he entered the room and tossed the file on the desk. "There's your junk."

Pegasus smiled and picked up the folder. "Not bad," he said as he flipped through the papers inside. "Seems like you got everything. Good job." He then began to examine the student pictures with a smirk. "Not bad at all."

"Can I go now?" Yami asked, looking at his watch. It was going on two, and he wanted to go collapse on his bed. Besides, there was something unsettling about the way Pegasus was looking at the pictures. Especially when he began to look at Yugi's papers. It both angered and disturbed him. 'Sick bastard,' he thought, wanting to rip the papers from the man's hands. He had seen that look before directed at unsuspecting secretaries and interns. Both male and female.

"Yes, you can. Goodnight," Pegasus replied, not even looking up from the papers.

"Whatever," Yami said, walking out and heading up the stairs to his room. He was so glad that he could finally sleep. He was dead tired, and all because he had to get information on those three. Now he was losing sleep because of that brat. And though he was tempted to go back down and ask Pegasus why he was so interested in them, he didn't want to see that man for the rest of the night. Besides, he'd find out sooner or later.

Reaching his room, he locked the door and fell on his bed. He was tired, but he just couldn't sleep. He felt restless as if he wanted to do something, but he didn't know what. It was probably just leftover energy from earlier. Sadly, Pegasus was right when he said Yami liked those jobs. They were fun and brought some excitement into his life, even if he had to kill. He didn't like to kill people, but there was something about having that power that was exhilarating. But he was not about to go overboard like Pegasus. He only killed in self defense…but he killed to protect himself while he helped Pegasus kill innocent people. So what was he really doing? Killing to save himself, or killing to save a killer?

'Not a good time to have a damn guilt trip,' he thought, burying his face into his pillow. 'It's not my problem, it's Pegasus'. I'm just selfish and help him for my own reasons.' Which really meant he killed because he was bored. Yea, that sounded a lot better. 'Oh enough! Damn conscience is working overtime tonight.' He sat up and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I don't give a fuck what happens at all. It's not my problem, and it never was. Pegasus and Alter can both go to hell for all I care. And while I'm damning people, Yugi can go along with them."

The kid really was a pest. Because of him, Yami had to go sneak around getting info on him and the other two. Actually, Yami had nothing against Ryou or Malik. They were both nice people, if a bit strange. But he just couldn't stand Yugi at all. Stupid brat who acted so nice to everyone. He was a pain in the ass, and Yami wanted to push him off a cliff. Though Yugi would survive just to spite him. 'But if I hurt him, wouldn't I be the same as whoever gave him those scars? Damnit, I can't do that to him. He's obviously been through enough, and if I did anything I'd be just like Pegasus. I'll stick to pissing him off. Stupid kid, giving me guilt trips and all. I don't care what happens to him. I don't!'

---------

Downstairs, Pegasus was adding the information he was just given into his computer. 'Seems like Alter went all out for this one. Such elaborate lies. Kit and White cousins. Really. But they've all grown up so much from the little rookies I met six years ago. Especially my little Kit.' He looked down at Yugi's student picture and smirked. 'Yes, he's grown up into a fine young man. Best agent in the world, and still as cute as the day I met him. Though I found him most adorable when he was covered in his blood. Looking up at me with those teary, fear filled eyes.'

His smirk grew wider as he thought back to that day. It was one of his favorite memories. But now wasn't the time for remembering. He would definitely have more chances to make memories later. Now though he had to prepare for anything the agents might do. They weren't the best for nothing, and if Pegasus underestimated them he would surely be beaten. He had to be very cautious from now on. One slip and the agents would have him backed into a corner.

He glanced at the clock on his desk. Two thirty. It was late, but that didn't matter to him as he reached for the phone. He was about to begin step one in his plan to take down the agents. Pegasus really was a busy man: trying to take over the world, and plotting to kill the best agents in Alter. But, of course, to take down the agents he needed more information on them. And Yami was obviously not interested in reconnaissance. He always preferred to be in the middle of the action, even if he denied it.

But that didn't matter to Pegasus. He had many people willing to get information on the agents. But it would have to be Domino High students so as not to raise suspicion. And he knew of just the ones. So while he waited for the person to pick up the phone, he made plans in his head. These two weren't the best, but they would have to do. At least they had proven themselves useful on many occasions. Though Pegasus was a bit worried that the agents, especially Kit, would suspect something was off with them.

"Yea, what is it?" a tired and annoyed male voice snapped.

"Glad to see you're awake," Pegasus said, amused that he woke the other up.

"Pegasus? Why are you calling now?" the voice asked, completely awake now.

"I have a job for you two. I want you to get as much information as you can on the new students at your school."

"The so called 'angels'? Why those three?"

"I have my reasons," Pegasus replied. 'Angels, huh? More like blood thirsty demons. But then again, demons are very skilled at hiding their true nature. And with those faces, no one could possibly know the truth.'

"So when do you want it?"

"Whenever you get it. But I'm warning you," Pegasus said seriously. "Don't disappoint me, Rex. I will not help you or Weevil out of any situation you find yourselves in. So don't mess up."

"I'll do my best, Sir."

Pegasus then hung up the phone. 'Those two better not screw this up. If those four agents find out that I know they're here, they'll make it even more difficult to defeat them. I can't do anything yet. When the time is right I'll see them personally. And I can't wait to meet Kit again. I will take great pleasure in killing him. But not before I make him mine. I've waited six years, and I don't intend to let this chance slip from my grasp.'

-------------tbc--------------

Star: OMG! This chapter sucks!

Yami: Glad you finally agree

Star: No, seriously! I wrote this chapter in eight days, and I didn't have a single bit of inspiration! I hate this chapter. I really do:cries:

Estafo: ;-; :pats Star on the back:

Yugi: At least you made a long chapter.

Star: Yea. I guess you can say this chapter was to bring in new character. And OMG! Who out there is surprised that Kyoji and Tsuno are in this fic? It's the return of the OCs and I love it. AND THEY ARE THE TWO LOVE INTERESTS:dies of laughter: I bet all of you hate that! Thought you would never see Kyoji ever again now that Deepest Dreams is over, huh? Well you were wrong! XD

Yami: I absolutely hate her

Star: Stay tuned for the next update of this and Bright Shadows! Ja!


	6. Introspection

Star: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all have a great day, and for those of you who don't celebrate thanksgiving…have a great day anyway!

Sorry once again for the late update, but you know how life is. Anyway, I am absolutely starving so I'm going to make this short. Have fun reading this chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own, can't sue

"Speech"

"_spoken in Latin"_

"phone conversation

'thoughts'

------------Introspection----------

Another two weeks had gone by, and everything was still quiet in Domino. So far, Control hadn't gotten any reports on suspicious activity from Pegasus or his workers. It seemed as if he was laying low for the time being. Which would mean big trouble if it turned out that he knew Alter was tracking him? The four agents knew they needed to be very careful, even though Pegasus was on the other side of the world at the moment. Who knew how many spies and followers he had lurking around Domino's dark alleys?

The drug deal in between Pegasus and the Mexican's was being tracked closely by Control and the U.S.A.B. but so far nothing interesting had happened. The agents that had assimilated themselves into the drug gang reported that the shipment was to take place in another month, when the politicians and drug lords had gathered the seven hundred thousand. However, it was taking too long, and Kit was beginning to become annoyed. He wanted to storm the warehouses where the drugs were being stored, but he knew that it wouldn't lead to anything. If they wanted to know more about Pegasus' plans, they had to be patient.

But with everything that Kit had to deal with in his mission, he was not really capable of being very patient at the moment. Everyday it seemed his patience was wearing thinner, all thanks to the king of jackasses, Yami. Yes, the senior was still being a pain in his ass, and was still pulling off all sorts of shit. Luckily, he seemed to be backing off just a bit. He was now sticking to mostly verbal attacks, rather than physical. Which was good for Kit, because he could ignore Yami's insults. But if he got another bruise from that bastard, Yami would find himself in the hospital quicker than he could blink.

"_Hey, Yugi, stop spacing out,"_ came a whisper from his left. Yugi blinked and looked over at Jou who was poking him in the shoulder with a pencil. "_The teacher is giving our tests back."_

Yugi looked up towards the front of the classroom where indeed the teacher was calling people up to get their tests. He wasn't worried about his grade though. Environmental science was an easy class, and with all the places he'd been to in the world, he knew he would ace the class. "_Sorry,"_ he whispered back. "_I was just thinking about things."_

_"Yami?" _Jou asked with a small smirk. It seemed that the civilian had been on Yugi's mind a lot, even if the thoughts about him were not the nicest thoughts in the world.

"_As if! I'm thinking of what's going on in the U.S. The drug operation is taking too long. According to reports from the U.S.A.B and the M.A.B., they should have already started to smuggle the drugs into the U.S. Why are they taking so long? Something doesn't add up. It's as if they are waiting for something else to start. But what could it be?"_

_"Well this isn't the place to think of things like that,"_ Jou replied, getting up and walking to the teacher's desk and getting his test. "_96,"_ he said proudly. "_I missed three questions."_

_"I probably got the same," _Yugi said, tapping his pencil on his desk as he waited for the teacher to call his name. "_I know I missed one question." _Looking up at the clock, the agent sighed when he saw it was only 8:10. "_I wish it was homeroom. I don't want to go to art," _he groaned.

"_Well, you have to face him sooner or later."_

_"But why so early in the day?"_ Yugi complained as he stood up to get his test.

Jou watched his best friend walk away with a smirk. Yes, Yami had definitely been on the agent's mind a lot. Though the other refused to admit it, Jou could tell that under all his anger and frustration was a hint of excitement. It wasn't often that a challenge like this came into their lives. One where they didn't have to worry about if they would be alive at the end. It was, for the most part, harmless pranks meant to simply annoy. In a way, Jou was glad that Yami was pulling all these tricks. It seemed to help Yugi act more like a normal teenage boy, rather than a commanding officer of Alter. That was the bad thing with being in Alter: you never had a real childhood.

Yugi walked back to his desk with a smile on his face. "_99,"_ he said, waving the test in Jou's face. "_She only took off a half point, since I had most of the information."_

_"Well, good for you,"_ Jou said with a smile, rolling his eyes. "_You're smart. I get it."_ Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of first period. Jou watched as the smile disappeared from Yugi's face, to be replaced with an annoyed frown. "_Oh, come on. It's not that bad. You look like your puppy got thrown in a blender."_

_"I wouldn't put it past him to do that," _Yugi remarked, packing his things then walking out of the classroom, and heading towards the art building.

_"I keep telling you to ignore him, but you just have to go and yell back at him," _Jou said with a sigh. "_You are both as stubborn as little children."_

_"Don't compare me to him, Pup."_

Before Jou could reply, his watch started beeping loudly. The blonde agent blinked and looked at the device, which now had a flashing red screen instead of numbers. "_I guess I'll see you later then," _the agent said.

"_Tell Control I want a report sent to White a.s.a.p.," _Yugi ordered. Jou nodded before taking off down the hall, pushing people out of his way so he could get to the exit quickly. 'Great,' Yugi thought as he continued to walk to the art building alone, 'they just had to call him now. I wonder if something happened over in the States. Guess I'll find out later.' Entering his art classroom, he was thankful that Yami hadn't shown up yet. At least he had a few seconds to try to get his temper in check, before that asshole started to piss him off again.

As he was walking over towards his table, he picked up the sounds of girls laughing in the hall. If that sound didn't annoy him enough, he then heard a deep, baritone voice that could only belong to one person. 'Couldn't he leave his fan club in his last class?' However, that didn't matter to Yugi at the moment. He was trying to access the files on Ryou's computer at the J.A.B. through his phone. What could Jou have been called out for? What was so important that he would need to leave school?

"The teacher just walked in, so you better put that away," the boy sitting next to him said quietly.

Yugi looked up and smiled sheepishly at the other. "Thanks, Rex," he said while shutting his phone. Oh well, there was always homeroom. "I didn't even hear her come in." Glancing down at the picture in front of the boy, he couldn't help but stare in wonder. "Wow. Your picture is coming out really well."

"Thanks, but I absolutely hate working with charcoal. I want to go back to colored pencil," Rex replied, brushing his hands of the messy powder. "It was a lot cleaner."

Yugi chuckled as he reached down to his portfolio and pulled out his picture. It was a picture of a few mountains he saw once when he was in India. He was trying to draw the beautiful landscape as best he could, but there was one tree in the corner that refused to come out properly. "I hate trees," he said.

"But the tiger came out amazing!" Rex exclaimed as he stared at a white tiger that was lounging on a rock. "I could never draw that. It looks like it could jump out of the picture."

Yugi smiled at the compliment. He was glad that he could relax for a bit in this class. At least he could sit next to someone nice like Rex, instead of that idiot. Maybe he could have a good class, even without Jou. As long as the bastard stayed on his side of the room, everything would be fine. Shaking his head, Yugi pulled out his charcoal pencils and began to work on the stupid tree, determined to not think of Yami for the rest of the class.

Across the room, Yami was trying to do the same thing. Only he wasn't focused on his art, which was spread out before him. He was staring up at the ceiling with his mp3 player turned up high. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a deep sigh of boredom. Apparently, Jou wasn't here, even though he had shown up for first period. Yami needed to vent to Jou, since Jou usually gave him good advice. And now he needed advice on what to do with Anzu. The girl had just become annoying of late, with her constant calling and emailing. And that was only at home! School was much worse. At school, she would follow him around, and would latch herself to his arm all the time. And now she had started to get mad at him whenever he talked to any other girl.

In the beginning, it was cute how she got jealous. But now it was becoming a serious pain. And a huge embarrassment, especially when she yelled at him in the hall. He was now seriously thinking of breaking up with her. Enough was enough, and he wasn't about to be yelled at again in front of the whole school just because he asked a girl where to find a teacher. There was no relationship from his point of view. Any feelings he had for her were now long gone, and most likely would not come back. But the problem was that, even though the relationship was not going anywhere, it was one of the few stable things in his life. What with all the crap, he had to deal with because of Pegasus and Alter, his relationship with the girl gave him a sense of normalcy. Hence his dilemma. Break up with her and lose the feeling of stability, or stay with her and be miserable?

Just thinking about it was making him agitated. Where was Jou? The only person who would know was Yugi, but Yami wasn't in the mood to talk to him. That would probably only make him madder. Looking across the room, he spotted the boy bending over his work with a frown. He was pointing to a green object and talking to Rex. Apparently, something wasn't going the way Yugi wanted, and that made Yami feel better. At least he knew that not everything was perfect in Yugi's life. 'Honor roll, straight 'A's. It pisses me off. Why is his life so fucking perfect all the time? It's so annoying.'

And another thing that was annoying him was the fact that Rex was sitting next to him, chatting away as if it were normal. Rex was annoying in general, but there was no way he'd talk to Yugi unless he had some ulterior motive. 'What the hell is Pegasus up to?' Yami thought, watching Rex closely. Rex was one of Pegasus' many loyal followers, who would happily jump off a cliff if Pegasus told him to. 'First he makes me steal Yugi's records, now he's getting Rex to act all friendly to him. What more does Pegasus wants to know about him? And why didn't he just ask me?'

The answer was plainly obvious. Because there was no way Yami was going to act nice to Yugi just to get some info for Pegasus. But why Rex of all people? He was a slimy, untrustworthy, annoying little worm. Yami knew this from all the times he'd been around Rex and his annoying friend Weevil. It was probably because Pegasus knew that Rex had a class with Yugi. But if Pegasus was going to this much trouble to keep tabs on someone, then it was obvious that Yugi was no normal person. So who was he really? What was it that made Pegasus so interested in him?

'Maybe there is a secret side to him. Maybe he's not the perfect goody goody after all. Yea, and Anzu's a saint. Pegasus is just being his creepy, perverted self again. There is nothing special about Yugi or the others. Why would they be? They are just normal people.' Yami closed his eyes for a second before opening them and looking at the other two. Yugi was now leaning over Rex's work, coloring something with a brown charcoal pencil. Rex was looking over the boy's shoulder at what he was doing. But Rex suddenly looked up at Yami and smirked, before leaning closer to Yugi.

Yami blinked in shock. What just happened? Did Rex just smirk at him? Why and why? Why would he do something like that? What was the point? 'What is he trying to pull?' Yami thought, even more annoyed because he was confused. 'Was there a reason to that?' Yami glared at Rex as the teen brought his face closer to Yugi's to inspect what Yugi had just finished working on. Just watching the two was making Yami feel sick, but if he looked away, who knew what Rex might do…not that he cared or anything. But he didn't trust Rex at all. It wasn't so much for Yugi safety as it was for his own curiosity that he didn't turn away.

'Who does that creep think he is? Smirking at me. What does he think that's going to accomplish? I'm not going to get jealous just because he's sitting close to Yugi. I'm glad I don't have to sit next to that brat. As if I even care why he's acting so nice to Yugi. Let Pegasus do whatever he wants, it doesn't concern me.' But as he watched Rex say something that made Yugi laugh, he suddenly felt a strange anger towards the Rex. And it was different from the usual anger. He had the strangest urge to go home and tell Pegasus to keep his minions away from what was his. But Yugi wasn't his in anyway, nor did Yami ever want him to be. But the more he watched those two, the angrier he got.

'Great, I'm starting to sound like Anzu! Damn Rex for being such an ass and damn Yugi for letting him sit so close. But why the fuck do I care?! I don't care. Let them do whatever they want. It has nothing to do with me. It's not my problem.' But damnit, he just wanted to go punch Rex for reasons different than the usual ones. He was starting to sound like a jealous lover and he didn't like that at all! Finally he had had enough, and he got up and stormed over towards the others.

"Where's Jou?" Yami asked, interrupting the other's conversation, not that he cared.

Yugi looked up at him with an annoyed glare, before he replied. "He left."

"Is he coming back?"

"No."

"Fine. Tell him I need to talk to him soon," Yami said, glaring fiercely at Rex who just smirked back.

"Whatever," was the only answer he got.

"Yami, go take your bad mood somewhere else," Rex said smugly, and suddenly Yami saw red. If they weren't in school, Rex would have gotten his ass kicked. But all Yami could do for now was glare and plot. And wait for the day that the two of them were alone so no one could accuse Yami of anything. So the teen angrily went back to his seat, where he put his headphones back on and refused to look or even think of the others for the rest of the class. 'I don't care. And I'm not jealous!'

--------

As Jou was driving to the base, he was thinking about what reasons he could have been called out of school for. 'Maybe they found something over in the States,' Jou thought as he stopped at a red light. But whatever it was, it was definitely important. After all, why else would they need to call two of them out? Looking over at the passenger's seat, he watched as Malik tried to connect to the J.A.B. satellite through his laptop.

"This is more Ryou's job," the blonde muttered as he finally connected, quickly pulling up a file titled 'U.S.A.B. Mis.' Scrolling through the sub files, he reached one called 'Mis. 005'. "It says that our spies have discovered a second Mexican base where they are loading trucks with explosives. Looks like Pegasus had another plan besides the drug smuggling."

"What are they going to do with explosives?" Jou asked, getting off the highway and turning right onto a dirt road.

"They haven't figured it out yet, but it looks like Pegasus was using the drug operation as a cover for smuggling weapons out of the country," Malik said as he continued to read.

"So he wanted us to track the drug operation the whole time! And while we were busy taking out the drug ring, he would get away with selling those weapons. And that would have given him more money than by helping to smuggle drugs into America," added Jou.

"But they would have to wait till Pegasus secured deals with the buyers. Which is why they haven't started anything yet. Yugi was right all along."

"I'll call him later when he's at lunch," Jou replied, pulling up to the gate and showing his pass to the guards. After they parked, they quickly headed to the large, white tower behind the big warehouse. Entering the tower, the got in the elevator and headed to the top floor where the J.A.B. Control team was located. When the elevator doors opened they saw Mai waiting for them, and saluted to her.

"Good thing you guys came quickly," she replied after she saluted back. "We're going to have some trouble with this one." Walking down a white hall, she turned left and entered an office room. Five other people were in the room, frantically typing away at computers. Across from the door was a glass pane that spanned the length of the wall. Malik crossed the room and looked down. Below him was a large room with of rows of computer terminals, multiple TV screens on each wall, and hundreds of people running around trying to get as much work done as possible. It was the Main Communications room, M Comm for short. In a way it was like the main control room at N.A.S.A. in the States. From the M Comm the Control team had access to every agent in and out of the battlefield, and satellite signals were decoded and sent directly to the commanding officers on the front line.

"Is it true that Pegasus was using the drug operation as a cover?" Jou asked, leaning over the shoulder of one of the people, and reading the information.

"We believe that is what he was planning," Mai replied. "He was deliberately trying to get us to focus on the drug ring," she said, waving a folder in the air. "All those 'little slips' he made were planned from the start. He probably knew we had spies all along."

"Damnit, he was leading us on," Malik said as he turned away from the pane. "How was it that we didn't catch this earlier?"

"The U.S.A.B., the M.A.B, and Control back on A.I. were focusing on the warehouses containing the drugs. We weren't aware that the other warehouses existed. It was only by chance that our spies were part of the group that was sent to inspect the explosives."

"And our satellites didn't notice people traveling back and forth from both bases?" Jou asked.

"The second base was hidden by signal jammers. Whenever our satellites would pass over that area, the screens would become fuzzy and no sound was heard. We thought it was atmospheric interference," Tsuno said, walking in the room.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Malik asked.

"Mahaado has been notified and he's told us to contact the Control on the U.S.A.B. to tell them to get ready for an attack. We can't afford to wait for Pegasus to make the first move."

"Shouldn't we tell Kit? He'll want to be here when they storm the bases," said Jou as he pulled out his cell.

"No. You two were called because your skills work better on this operation. Pup, you have to direct the Mexican agents in disarming the satellite jammers. Scarab, you have to help the commanders for the American agents make a plan to attack the bases."

"Battle plans are more Kit's specialty," Malik commented.

"But you are better at the covert operations," Mai said. "The spies we have in the drug ring will be joining the American agents, since they know their way around the base. You have to get them to the office rooms were the drug lords are without being spotted by their soldiers. Once the drug lords have been taken out, the rest of the agents will attack the base."

"We'll tell Kit once school is out. If needs be, we'll have him and White brought here sooner. But either way, Mahaado wants us to attack in twenty six hours," Tsuno added.

"Twenty six? I can't come up with a plan in twenty-six hours! I don't even know the layout of the bases yet!" Malik protested. "I barely know what's going on, and you expect me to come up with attack plans?"

"Stop complaining!" Mai yelled. "Kit has to deal with problems like this all the time."

"Well, he is the best agent in Alter for a reason."

"If you think you can't do it, we'll call Kit here. But he won't be happy with having to do your work," Mai warned. "Suck it up and stop being a baby."

"Fine, but I want all the maps you have of the base. I also want to talk to the commanders immediately, so we can start planning. I'll be in my office," Malik said, walking out.

"I'm going to my office too. Connect me to the M.A.B. I want to talk to the leader of the group that's going to disable the jammers," Jou said as he walked out too.

"Are you sure we shouldn't get Kit here?" Tsuno asked Mai.

"Kit can't be bothered with this. He has to find the kids who work for Pegasus and arrest them. That way we can find out what Pegasus is going to do to try to take over the world. All we know now is that it has something to do with nuclear weapons. Besides, he won't want to be bothered with taking out a drug ring. He wants to go after Pegasus."

"You think he can really take down Pegasus?"

"For his sake, I hope he can."

------

Finally it was homeroom, a chance to relax for fifteen minutes before being thrown back into class. But homeroom wasn't relaxing at all for Yami. He was even more stressed out than before, all thanks to one annoying idiot by the name of Rex. That freak had purposely done things to annoy Yami all class. But what was really annoying was that Yami had no idea why he was annoyed. All during class he had tried to focus on his project, but he just couldn't stop looking over at the other two. So in the end he didn't get much done, and he was in an even worse mood.

'Damnit, I hate both of them,' he though as he got up from his desk. Heading out the door he walked down the hall towards his locker. 'Good thing I don't have class with the brat next. I would shoot myself if I had to sit through another class with him.' As he got closer to his locker, he passed another senior homeroom. Glancing in the door he spotted Yugi and Ryou happily chatting away with some people. 'How annoying. That he can just act like nothing's wrong in his life. He smiles and fools everyone.' Of course, that was exactly what Yami always did, but seeing someone else do it was quite aggravating.

Turning the corner he mentally groaned when he saw Anzu heading towards him. 'Fuck, I don't want to deal with her now.' He tried to ignore her, but she stopped right in front of him, glaring at him as if she was trying to be intimidating. "What is it?" he asked.

"We need to talk," she replied coldly.

"Wasn't it you who said we weren't talking anymore earlier when you screamed at me in the hall?" Yami reminded her, pushing past her and walking up to his locker. "Besides, I have nothing to talk to you about."

"Don't take that attitude with me," she snapped.

"And why shouldn't I?" he asked angrily, turning around to face her. "You were the one who started yelling at me for no reason! You were the one who completely embarrassed me in front of the whole school! You were the one who wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain! So why shouldn't I have an attitude?"

"Will you just shut up and listen to me!" Anzu yelled.

"No, I have to get back to class before the bell," Yami replied, turning back. Suddenly Anzu grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall, outside, and behind the gym. "Let go, damnit! I'm not going to get in trouble because of you!"

"Shut up! I'm so sick of your attitude! You are always moody and pissed, you never want to hang out or talk to me, and I'm sick of it!"

"Well if you're so sick of it, then stop hanging around me!"

"Well what do you expect me to do? I'm your girlfriend!"

"Lately you've been nothing but a pest!"

"I keep bothering you because I'm worried! If I stopped, you'd just lock yourself in your room and stay there! Why can't you just tell me what's wrong?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Because it's none of your business," he answered, brushing her hand off.

"I want to help you, for crying out loud!"

"I don't need your help. I want to be left alone," Yami replied, leaning on the hood of his car. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to help."

"Maybe I could try," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. But Yami didn't return the embrace.

'She'd never believe me if I told her about Alter or Pegasus' plans. Even if she did, there's nothing she can do to help me.' "You can't," he told her. "No one can help. I have to deal with this on my own."

"You know all I want is for you to be happy," Anzu responded. "I'm sorry if I keep bothering you, but I just want to know what's wrong. And I'm sorry for yelling at you this morning."

"And…I'm sorry for not spending more time with you," the teen said with a sigh. "I've just been…tied up with things."

"You need to get away from your problems for a bit. Take a break, otherwise you'll kill yourself."

'I don't think I'm the one who will kill myself.' "Fine," he said with a halfhearted smile. "If you're so worried, come to my penthouse tonight and help me forget about my problems." He then wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her.

When they pulled away, she smiled at him. "What time?"

"Seven. And plan to stay the night," he said just as the bell rang.

"Ok then. See you tonight!" she said, giving him one last kiss before running off.

Yami watched her run off, before sighing and lying down on his hood. He didn't want to go to class. He just wanted to go home. Or to his penthouse at the hotel downtown, the one other place besides school where he could be at peace. But then again, school was no longer part of that list, all thanks to once certain transfer. But right now Yami was too tired to think bad thoughts, so he just lay there and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds float slowly by. "Too bad my life can't be so easygoing," he said quietly.

Closing his eyes, he touched his lips softly. There was once a time when a kiss from her could make everything better. There was once a time when the thought of spending time with her made his day exciting. But now it was dull and boring. The spark that attracted him at the beginning had been put out. And now he was stuck. Granted he chose to be stuck. But he really wanted out. He wanted to find someone else, someone who would make his life interesting again. Was he being selfish? Definitely, but didn't he have a right to wish for happiness?

But was it possible? Was there someone out there that was meant for him? Or were soul mates and fairy tale romances just a bunch of lies? Perhaps the reason he was so cynical when it came to love was because he had never truly experienced love. But to him 'happily ever after' just didn't exist. He didn't know about the emotional side to love. All his life he only ever focused on the physical side. But he was tired of it now. He wanted more than just a physical relationship. For the first time in his life, he couldn't give a damn about it. He wanted to experience true love for once in his life. Didn't he have a right to that just like everyone else?

The late bell rang, but Yami didn't get up. He wasn't in the mood to go to class. Besides, it wasn't as if he'd miss anything important. He already knew how to speak English, so why bother going to class? The only good thing was that he could be relax. Well, having Marik bother him all class wasn't really relaxing, but it was better than nothing. 'I'll go back in ten minutes,' he decided. Though it didn't necessarily mean that he would actually go to class. He'd probably go to the roof again. 'Or I can just go home now,' he thought. "As if anyone would get mad at me anyway.' But no, it would be too boring. He'd rather be bored in school with his friends than be bored all alone.

Ten minutes finally passed, and Yami decided that it would be best to go back inside. He didn't feel like being caught by the P.E. teachers. After that soccer game where he and Yugi were fighting, the coach wasn't very happy to see him. So with an annoyed sigh, the teen stood up and headed slowly back into the main building. As he was walking through the halls, he heard a lot of chatter from the chemistry labs. Passing by, he glanced in and saw a senior class performing experiments. To his annoyance though, he saw Yugi in the middle of a group, reading instructions to the group. Great, that was _just_ what he wanted to see. Note sarcasm. Walking away from the labs, he headed to the bathroom. Here he wouldn't be caught, and it was close enough to his classroom that he could just sneak in.

He entered the last stall and just leaned against the wall, behind the door so that no one could see him in the mirror. So there he stood for a while, trying to get his thoughts in order and hoping he could relax a bit before his next class. Luckily he had lunch next, then study hall in homeroom. All in all he had about an hour and a half before last period. Which was good, because he was planning to spend all that time sleeping. On the roof, where no one could bother him.

Suddenly he heard the door open and he tensed, leaning closer to the wall. It was quiet for a moment before he heard someone sigh. "Why are you hiding?" the person asked.

"Because I don't feel like going to class. Why bother?" Yami replied, stepping out of the stall and turning towards Seto.

"So what happened between you and Anzu?" the other teen asked, leaning against the sinks. "I saw her drag you down the hall during homeroom."

"Thanks for stopping her, by the way," Yami replied with a glare. "She wanted to know why I am acting this way. I told her it wasn't her problem, and that I could handle it alone."

"You can't handle it alone," Seto responded. "It's too much for you to handle by yourself. Even I wouldn't be able to deal with it alone."

"Well what do you expect me to do? I can't tell anyone what's happening, because they'd all think I was crazy! No one would believe me anyway, especially if I went around telling people that Pegasus is planning to take over the world. And that there is a secret organization that fights crime out to take him down."

"Why do you get involved then? This fight is between Alter and Pegasus. I don't see why you let yourself get dragged into their battles. If I were you, I would tell Pegasus to fuck off," Seto said, looking at his cousin. "You are too stressed out, and it can't be healthy for you."

"Sad to say, the only excitement I have in my life is helping Pegasus. But I hate it! I don't want to be involved, but I don't have a choice. The only thing I can hope for is that Alter kills him soon," Yami replied with a sigh. "I don't have a problem with fighting, or with stealing, or with anything he asks me to do. I just don't like the fact that I am doing these things to help out his evil schemes."

"But you aren't completely helping him. You are helping Alter too, in a way," Seto said. "Haven't you been sabotaging some of Pegasus' plans?"

"Yes, but I can only do so much. And I can only mess up the smaller operations. And how much good does that do, if every time one of his plans messes up, he already has three other plans as backups?"

"Well, at least you are trying."

"I don't want to try," Yami said, playing with the faucets on one of the sinks. "I just want to live a normal life. But I can't, all because that bastard thinks he's destined to rule the world. You know…I've been thinking about breaking up with Anzu."

"Random, but good for you," Seto said. "It's about time you dumped her."

"But…I don't know if I should. Other than my friends, she is the only other thing I can count on to not change suddenly."

"So what? Dump her already! You know she's adding to all your stress. Besides, she's a snotty, horrible, vain, childish bitch. You don't need her to keep your life together. If anything, getting rid of her will make things easier."

"I know she's not the best person in the world, but then again, no one is. It's not like I'm suddenly going to find a complete angel or anything," Yami said, throwing his hands in the air. "People like that don't exist, and I'm not about to start believing in some stupid Disney version of love where people live happily ever after."

"Well, maybe one day you'll get it."

"Oh, come on. You don't believe in it either."

"True, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just completely give up," Seto replied. "I might not believe in happily ever after, but I do think that every person has at least one person who is right for them. But obviously, Anzu isn't yours."

"That's total bull! I'm not going to spend my life looking for the one person who is 'right for me'."

"So you are going to waste your time in a relationship that is tearing you apart, instead of trying to find the person who makes your life better. Real smart," Seto said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, where do you expect me to look? Am I to just go around calling for them? Even if I did believe that there was someone in this world meant for me, the chance that I would even meet them is extremely slim."

"Maybe you already have met them. How many places have you been to in this world? You might have met that person during a trip. Who knows, they might even go to this school."

"I can tell you right now, there is no one in this school who I would consider my 'soul mate'. The closest I can think of is Anzu."

"Well I can tell you, that Anzu is definitely NOT the one meant for you. And if she is, then something is fucked up in the universe. Because I can't picture you spending your life with her. The thought of you two married and raising kids sickens me. I don't want to be an uncle to those kids," Seto said, pretending to gag.

"Ok, no more talk of kids."

"Fine. But those would be some ugly kids," the teen said with a smirk

"Shut up! Besides, I know I wouldn't last that long with her. Even if I didn't break up with her now, there is no way I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her. And let's say I did find my 'soul mate'. Who's to say that we'd last long? If Pegasus has his way, then the whole world will be too fucked up to have any relationship."

"Yea, but until then don't resign yourself to being with that girl. Anyone deserves better than her."

"Since when do you give pep talks?" Yami asked with a small smile.

"Since I've gotten sick of your self pitying bull."

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Yami asked, rolling his eyes.

"Shouldn't you?" Seto replied.

"I don't feel like it," answered Yami. He turned on the sink and splashed some water on his face. "I just want to go home and try to forget all my problems. At least for now."

"I think you should. No offense, but you look like hell."

"Thanks," Yami replied sarcastically. "But you are right. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. You'd think I'd sleep better now that Pegasus is in America, but nope. Whenever I try to sleep, all I can think of is how fucked up my life is becoming. All because of Pegasus, Alter, and Anzu."

"Weren't you always wishing that something exciting would happen, to keep you from killing yourself out of boredom?" Seto asked, sticking his hand under the still running faucet.

"To give me a reason to wake up in the mornings," Yami replied quietly.

"And how's that working out for you?"

"…I don't know. It feels as if something has changed, but nothing has. Not as far as I can tell. It's like…like there is something right in front of me, but I don't know what it is. I know it's there, but at the same time it's hiding from me. I don't know where it is, or what it is, but I can tell there is something different about my life now."

"Maybe something is." Seto then looked at his watch. "It's almost time for the bell to ring. Are you going to skip lunch and go home?"

Yami reached over and turned off the faucet, before sighing. "I don't know. I don't want to be here anymore, but at the same time I don't want to be alone. Maybe I'll just go to the roof."

"Well if you do stay, try not to have that expression around people," Seto said, commenting on the exhausted, weary look on his cousin's face.

"I'm not really in the mood to smile and be happy," Yami replied with a scowl. "Besides, it's not _my_ job to be the happy one of the group." The bell then rang, signaling the end of classes. The two heard the stampede of students rushing to be first in the lunch line and the teachers yelling at them not to run in the halls. "We better go then. I'm tired of standing here."

"Are you going to the roof then?"

"Yea," Yami replied as he pushed the door open and walked out, Seto behind him. "I might come down later. Oh, and thanks for talking to me. I feel a bit better."

"We're family," Seto replied with a shrug. "Besides, Mokuba kept bugging me to talk to you."

Out of the corner of his eye Yami saw Yugi, Ryou, Bakura and Marik heading towards them. "See ya," he said before climbing up the stairs to the second floor.

"Where is Yami going?" Marik asked as he watched his friend ascend the staircase.

"To the roof," Seto said, walking towards the cafeteria. "He's not having a good day."

"He looked depressed again," commented Bakura. "And stressed out."

"Why would he be depressed?" Ryou asked.

"He's having a hard time right now. He's dealing with a lot of shit from his dad and with Anzu," Seto replied. "We spent all last period in the bathroom talking about it." Lowering his voice to a whisper he added, "He might even dump Anzu."

"Well it's about time!" Marik said. "That girl is no good for him. We've been telling him to dump her for months."

"But will that really help?" Bakura pondered. "He was already getting stressed before things with her went south. Man, I haven't seen him smile in months!"

"_He always smiles when he's being a jerk to me," _Yugi muttered, causing Ryou to roll his eyes and sigh. "Hey guys," he said loudly, "Ryou and I have to go do some research in the library. We'll meet you later."

"Alright, but come back soon," Bakura said, looking at Ryou.

The young agent lowered his eyes and blushed a little. "Ok, bye," he said before quickly dragging Yugi off.

-------

Ryou was still blushing when they arrived at an empty computer lab, mostly because Yugi wouldn't stop teasing him about it. "_Will you shut up already? I don't have any feelings for him, ok!"_ the agent said, even though his blush got darker.

"_Really now? I do believe you are lying, Ryou," _Yugi said with a smirk as he headed over to the computer farthest from the door. Turning it on, he glanced up at his friend who was glaring at him and smiled. "_Why do you deny it? You blush every time someone mentions him, you can never look him in the eye, and whenever he is around you won't leave his side."_

_"You are such a liar!"_

_"I am not. Ask Jou or Malik, and they'll tell you the same thing. Now hurry up and hook up the laptops."_

_"They are just as mean as you are, and the only reason they would agree would be because they wanted to tease me," _Ryou replied, pulling out two laptops from his bag. Pulling out a long, black cord he plugged one end into the computer. He then pulled out two smaller cords and connected the cords to the laptops. Finally, he pulled out a small, black box and hooked the three cords to the box. He then took out a small object that looked like a flash drive. Plugging it into the back of the school computer, he said, "_It'll take three minutes before the school computer can translate the satellite feed."_

_"Scarab sent me a text on my phone that said Mission 005 has been split into two missions now, but that was all he told me. He said that Mai would tell me when we got to the base," _Yugi said. "_Although it is annoying being kept in the dark about these things."_

_"But it's not really our mission,"_ Ryou added as he went through a bunch of folders on his laptop. He then pulled up the 'U.S.A.B. Mis.' folder and opening the 'Mis. 005' sub folder. "_I don't understand why we are suddenly taking an interest in this 'C' class mission when we have an 'A' class mission here."_

_"Obviously the status has been raised from a 'C'. Otherwise Malik and Jou wouldn't have been called out. How much longer for the feed to come through?" _Yugi asked as he looked over the reports in the folder on his own laptop.

"_Another minute. I hate civilian computers. They are so slow," _Ryou complained. "_There, done," _he said as both laptop screens turned a dark blue. A gold diamond appeared on the screens and two white wings spread from the top two bars of the diamond. In the center a large, red capital A appeared, and then a black, lowercase t crossed bars with the A. It was the Alter symbol. Below the symbol, in white letters, J.A.B. faded in and out of view three times before the screen went black. A small, green box appeared and Ryou typed in a password on his computer.

"_Pull up the details of the first mission on yours," _Yugi ordered as he scrolled through the sub files on his laptop till he reached one called 'Mis. 005-2'. Opening it quickly, he read through the report, his eyes suddenly widening. "_Fuck! Pegasus was planning to smuggle explosives out of the country."_

_"I thought he was only helping the Mexican's smuggle drugs," _Ryou said, stunned by the information he was reading. "_I can't believe he was using that as a cover to get the weapons out."_

_"That bastard!" _Yugi spat. Just then his phone rang, and he quickly answered it, putting on his earpiece. "_Kitsune here."_

_"So you found out already," _Jou said from the other line.

"_Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?" _Yugi demanded. "_And why wasn't I called out as well?"_

_"Mai and Tsuno said that our skills were needed for this. They said you would be called if things got bad."_

_"I am the leader of this mission and any mission that deals with Pegasus. I should have been notified immediately of these new events! They cannot take my agents without telling me the reason!" _Yugi yelled. "_How long am I supposed to be kept from this information?"_

_"Sir,"_ interrupted Malik. "_Mahaado wants both bases taken out in twenty six hours."_

_"But we barely have any information on the second base with the weapons!" _Ryou said as he hooked up his earpiece. "_I don't have a proper layout of the base or the surrounding grounds,"_ he said, looking through the images.

"_Exactly!"_ Malik said. "_I'm supposed to make a strategy to get our agents into the first base to take out the drug lords, then all the agents are to storm both bases. But I have no idea how the agents are to get to the second base."_

_"I'm supposed to be helping the M.A.B. take out the signal jammers on the second base."_ Jou added. "_There is a power plant about a hundred miles away, but it's very hard to hack into it. The systems at the plant are very advanced. This type of technology shouldn't be in a normal power plant."_

_"So you think this plant belongs to the drug lords?" _Ryou asked, pulling up the layout of the power plant.

"_Probably. Which means I have to be careful incase someone notices the hack."_

_"Scarab, how many men are going to be sent out?" _Yugi asked.

"_About three hundred fifty infantry men and fifty jets. One fifty will head towards the drug base, and the rest will be sent to the weapons base. Twenty-five jets each."_

_"Have them send out an extra hundred for each base."_

_"Why? Isn't that too many?"_

_"Knowing Pegasus, he's expecting us to attack. Since we have no satellite feed for about thirty miles surrounding the second base, we can't tell if he has soldiers waiting to ambush our agents. Send out an extra hundred as backup, and twenty more planes. I want the backup soldiers to be split into teams of twenty, and each is to take a section around the perimeter of the base."_

_"Sir, I don't think the commanders at either the M.A.B. or the U.S.A.B. will be happy with sending out more troops,"_ Jou said.

"_I don't care if they are happy with it or not!"_ Yugi snapped, getting angrier by the minute. "_I am in charge of this mission as of now. If they have a problem, they can call me. But I will not be pushed aside, especially when it involves my target and my agents! And if Mai or Tsuno try to object, tell them that I will have them suspended from this mission!"_

_"Yes, Sir," _Jou replied.

"_Scarab, I'm sending you the schedules of three of the drug lords."_ Ryou said, uploading a file of information that he had just hacked from the palm pilots of the drug lord's personal assistants. "_It'll be tight, but there is a chance to take them out at 8:30 tomorrow night. It's the only time they will be there at the same time. The other two won't be at the base at all." _Ryou then started to send another file to Jou's computer at the J.A.B. "_Pup, I'm sending you information on the power plant. There is a room at the plant that is only accessed by the director and his two assistants. The main computer is in this room, and this is where you need to hack. The other systems aren't important."_

_"Got it. I'm trying to get through to the main file but the M.A.B. agents keep getting lost in the systems. They have a lot of firewalls here."_

_"Two plant workers aren't there today,"_ Ryou said, reading through the files on the workers of the plant. "_If you go through their sector, the safety systems shouldn't be as fast so you can probably break through."_

_"What would I do without you, White?"_

_"Get your ass kicked,"_ Ryou replied with a smirk.

For the next twenty minutes the four teammates worked on getting everything ready for the attack. Ryou helped Jou break through the security systems in the plant, and Yugi helped Malik come up with plans to take out the drug lords and the bases. It was noon when Jou finally reached the main computer system at the plant. The other three were silent as they watched Jou and the M.A.B. agents plant a virus into the system. The virus would be set off an hour before the attack started. Hopefully the workers at the plant wouldn't be able to remove it for a while. Otherwise, Control would lose all contact with the soldiers on the ground and in the air.

"_So everything Is set now?"_ Ryou asked.

"_Yes,"_ Jou said with a relieved sigh. "_Everything should go smoothly unless someone notices the hack beforehand."_

"_While that chance may be slim," _Yugi commented, "_we can't take any chances. I want two M.A.B. Control members to watch the systems. Have them plant another virus in another system. That way, if they discover the hack, the second virus will go off and distract them."_

Ryou looked at his watch and gasped. "_We better pick up,"_ he told Yugi. "_Lunch will end in ten minutes."_

_"Already? Damn, I wanted to look over the security system for the drug base again,"_ complained Yugi.

"_Why don't you just call Mai and have her send over someone to pick you up?"_ Malik suggested.

"_No,"_ Yugi replied quickly. "_They didn't want me there in the first place. If they think they can handle this on their own, let them. I'm not going to get involved unless Mahaado tells me to. The only reason I'm helping you two is because you are my teammates."_

_"I feel so lucky,"_ Jou replied with a hint of sarcasm. "_You better get going before someone walks in on you."_

_"We'll see you later tonight then. White, signing off," _Ryou said before disconnecting from the J.A.B. satellite.

"_Scarab, tell the commanders at the other bases that I'm going to contact them when I get to the base."_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Kitsune, signing off."_ Yugi disconnected from the satellite, and pulled his earpiece off. "I can't believe those two didn't tell me about this when it happened!" he said angrily.

"They probably thought you'd be too busy with this mission to bother with that one," Ryou responded, turning off all three computers. He gently removed the small drive from the back of the school computer and placed it in a small box inside his schoolbag.

"But they can't take my agents without telling me! I don't care if she is a director of Control, she can't go against my authority over them. And as for Tsuno, he's just lucky he's useful in this mission. Or I would drop him right now." Yugi forcefully shoved his laptop into the bag, and shoved it to the side.

"No need to take it out on the computers," Ryou said with a sigh as he stood up. "Besides, I'm sure Mahaado told him to help Mai. Otherwise he wouldn't have kept it a secret." Ryou slung the bags over his back and headed towards the door, followed by an even angrier Yugi.

"But why did it have to be kept a secret?" the agent argued. "_Tsuno, Jou, and Malik are all part of my team. And as their leader, I have a right to know what they hell they are up to and why they have been pulled onto another mission. And it's not just because I'm their leader! As an agent I have a right to know of anything that goes on concerning my target."_

_"Calm down," _Ryou said quietly, looking down the halls. "_If you keep yelling a teacher is going to come."_

_"Fine. But when we get to the base, I'm going to raise hell,"_ Yugi said as he stormed off towards his next class.

Ryou followed slowly, rolling his eyes. Passing by the math labs, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, damn!"

"What?" Yugi asked, looking back.

"My trig teacher wanted to see me after school today," the agent replied.

"Well tell him you were busy. Honestly, I don't get why these teachers interfere so much with the student's lives." Yugi started to walk off again, shifting the weight from his bag.

"They are supposed to. They have to pretend they care about the students and their well being. So they meddle in the kid's lives."

"It's very annoying. The teachers at the school on A.I. didn't bother with the student's unless it was life threatening."

"It's basically the same in a civilian school," Ryou said, quickly pulling out his phone. Glancing around for teachers, he turned off the volume. He didn't want to get in trouble incase someone from the J.A.B. called. He was definitely expecting a lot of information to be presented to him when they got to the base. By now everyone probably knew Yugi was mad, and no one crossed him when he was mad. "I'll just go quickly to see what he wants, then we can leave. Besides," Ryou continued, lowering his voice, "you said you weren't going to get involved."

"I can't help but get involved," Yugi replied, clenching his right hand into a fist. "I swore I would take that bastard down no matter what. If it means that I have to deal with extra shit, then I'll do it. Anything to see that he fails miserably."

"You can't fight him alone."

"I have to beat him! To avenge all the innocent people who have suffered and died by his hand. To avenge my parents as well. I won't stop till he's dead! I don't care if I die, as long as he dies with me."

"Do you really think your parents would want you putting your life in danger just to avenge them?" Ryou asked softly. His gaze was sad as he looked at his friend. No matter how happy he seemed to everyone else, there was always a veil of sorrow surrounding the young agent. Only those closest to him knew how hard it was sometimes for Yugi to smile.

"If I don't, then I will have failed as an agent…and as a son," Yugi responded just as the bell rang. He then entered the crowd and walked away.

-------

Last period flew by for some people, and dragged on forever for others. The two agents kept glancing at the clock in the gym, willing it to speed up. The sooner the bell rang, the sooner they could get to the base and see how things had progressed. The last thing they wanted to do was play kickball in P.E. with a bunch of civilians. But it seemed the more they wished for time to speed up, the longer each round took. It was very annoying, to say the least.

Of course, they weren't the only ones who wanted last period to end quickly. Yami sat on the bleachers, lazily watching members of his team run the bases. He was in no mood to play, and refused to get up when it was his turn. He heard Bakura mumble something nasty about him as he had to get up to kick again, but Yami didn't care. He just wanted the day to be over so he could head to his penthouse. There he could finally relax and just wait for Anzu. But after the talk with Seto, he wasn't in the mood to entertain her. He wasn't even in the mood to be around her, yet here she was, clinging onto his arm as if daring anyone to even look at him. He was pretty sure his arm was numb by now. "Anzu," he called.

"Yes, darling?" she replied, batting her eyelashes at him.

God, he hated that damn word. Darling. She always used it, that or 'dear'. It sickened him to hear it come out of her mouth. Every time she said it, he felt a wave of nausea pass over him. Plus, it was embarrassing as hell to be called 'darling' in public. Because whenever she said it, people would stare at them. As if he wasn't stared at enough already. "Can you loosen your grip on my arm a little?" he asked, his voice dripping with false sweetness and a fake smile to go with it.

"Of course, darling!" Anzu said quickly, loosening her grip a little, but still tight enough to keep him from escaping. She then looked down at the game, so she missed the look of disgust that passed his face. "Looks like the other team is winning," she commented. "Probably because Yugi and Ryou keep kicking."

"Ugh, don't mention that brat's name," Yami muttered.

"Do you really hate him?" Anzu asked. "He seems nice to everyone. He even helped me in English."

"He's an annoying little punk that doesn't know his place. He gets on my nerves every time I see him, and he intentionally pisses me off." Of course, Yami didn't mention that he did the exact same thing.

"Wow, I didn't know he was so bad. He looks like such a nice kid."

Yami rolled his eyes, then focused on the game. His team had a player on first and third base, with two outs The kicker already had a foul and was about to take another shot. Looking over towards first base, Yami saw Yugi tense up in preparation of catching the ball. He really, REALLY hated to admit it, but Yugi was a good player. He didn't drop the balls like other people, and he could jump pretty high. And he was also a pretty fast runner. It was no wonder that he was placed on first base. He could take out the players quickly.

"YAMI!" The teen was jerked out of his thoughts when the voice of the coach reached his ears. "Get down here now! You will not just sit there all class!"

Muttering insults under his breath, Yami slowly stood up and headed over to the home plate. Glancing quickly at Yugi, he noticed the other teen was tensing up again. 'I don't even feel like bugging him now. I'm too bored.' So when the ball came, he kicked it hard towards left outfield. Luckily no one caught it, and he ran all three bases. Ignoring the dirty look Yugi was sending him, he climbed back up the bleachers and sat back down. All in all, he wasted five minutes doing that.

Satisfied with his performance, the coach told everyone to pick up and head to the locker room. Some students went to get changed while others sat down by their school bags, deciding to change at home. Yugi and Ryou rushed to get changed, while Yami and the others stayed seated. The bell rang a few seconds later, and all the students stood up and raced to the exits, pushing each other out the way as they tried to leave as quickly as possible. Everyone but Yami, who strolled out calmly. He headed towards his locker to grab his books, but decided to take his time. He preferred the school when it was quiet, and twenty minutes after the bell the school was pretty much deserted. The constant noise from the other students was very annoying to him.

He was on the third floor of the main building heading towards his locker when he heard a soft sound coming from somewhere. Thinking it was just some teachers or a club meeting, he ignored it and continued to shove his books in his bag. But there was something about the noise that didn't sound like voices. It was too soft for that, too melodic. 'Is someone in the music room?' he wondered. 'Oh well, not like it matters.' So the teen closed his locker and was about to head back down, when the sound became a little louder. 'That's a piano. Who could be playing the piano after school?'

But once again, it didn't matter. It had nothing to do with him, so why should he bother? But as the music continued to play, he found it harder and harder to ignore it and walk away. It felt to him like the music was calling him, inviting him to find the source. And he had to admit, whoever was playing was pretty talented. Not a single wrong note, the music flowed perfectly and sounded so soft. It was soothing and comforting. Though…there was hint of sadness behind the beautiful notes. Yami could almost feel the sorrow of the player fill him. The more he listened the more he felt drawn towards the harmonious music.

So he turned around and headed back upstairs, following the music as it echoed through the silent halls. Yami never knew that Mozart could sound so nice. And usually he wasn't a fan of classical music. 'I didn't know anyone could play the Moonlight Sonata at this school. Other than Seto and I.' So he continued to follow the ghostly music through the school towards the music room. He half expected no one to be there, and for the music to fade away softly into nothingness. 'Seven wonders of the school. Fuck, I'm not going to believe in some stupid superstition made by dimwits.' However, he couldn't deny there was something hauntingly beautiful about the piece.

'It's probably the teacher,' he thought as he approached the music room quietly. But he never knew the teacher could play so well. The music stopped suddenly and Yami was afraid he'd been found out, when it began again. Taking a deep breath, the teen peeked around the door frame and looked for the lone piano player. To his complete surprise he saw Yugi sitting at the grand piano by the window, bathed in sunlight. He watched in awe as the other expertly moved his fingers across the keys, drawing out the soft, haunting sounds that he had heard throughout the building. He couldn't take his eyes off the other's serene expression, and the soft but sad smile that graced the other's lips.

The piece came to an end, and the notes hung gently in the air before fading gently. It was silent for a minute as Yugi ran his fingers lightly over the keys. "It's not nice to spy on people."

Yami blinked in surprise before entering the room. "Why are you in here?"

"Ryou had to talk to a teacher. Why are you sneaking around?"

"I was wondering who was playing."

"Had I known anyone was still here I wouldn't have played," Yugi replied, taking his hands off of the keys.

"Why not?" Yami asked, walking closer till he was standing in front of the piano.

"I don't like it when people hear me playing," the agent answered simply.

"It's not bad," Yami said, surprising himself with the compliment he just gave.

Yugi just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm sure you're thinking something nasty right now."

Yami blinked again and scowled. "Why don't you just take the compliment?"

"Forgive me if after more than a month of you acting like a jerk to me I find it hard to believe that you can say anything nice to me," Yugi snapped back.

It was silent for a while after that, the silence broken occasionally by a random key being struck. Neither knew what to say to break the silence. Both were too tired to start fighting with each other, but they didn't know how to act around each other in a way that didn't involve anger. It seemed strange that they could be in such close proximity and not argue. But as the minutes ticked by, the tension seemed to disappear little by little. The two started to relax a bit as they let their minds wander. Never mind that they were five feet apart. With his left hand, Yugi started to slowly play the beginning to another Mozart piece.

Yami listened as the notes were struck, hearing the whole piece in his head. 'Fuer Elise,' he thought. Without thinking, he sat down on the bench on Yugi's right. The agent blinked and stopped playing, shocked that Yami had just sat down next to him. Quickly placing his hands on the keys, Yami started playing the piece from the beginning. Thinking back to all his years of practice, the movements became more fluid as he went on. His fingers moved gracefully across the black and white keys, producing a beautiful sound.

Yugi sat there and watched the other play. Half surprised that the other had willingly sat so close to him, and half amazed at the other's skills. He hadn't known that the other was so talented at the piano. Then again, Yugi didn't know much about Yami seeing as how the two were always at each other's throats. 'It sounds amazing,' the agent thought, unable to take his eyes away from the other boy. He had never seen such a soft expression on the other's face. 'He's very good. Though he still probably can't top Ryou.'

Yami reached the end, and let his fingers linger on the keys for a second as the notes faded away. "Who taught you?" he asked suddenly, looking not at Yugi but at the sheet music on the piano.

"My mother," Yugi replied quietly. "She loved the piano, and would teach me an hour each day. I used to hate it…but now…I would give anything to see her playing again."

Yami looked at the other teen and saw the sorrow and longing in his eyes. It was amazing how vulnerable he suddenly looked. Usually he was smiling and laughing, or, when around Yami, angry and yelling. But this sadness was new, and Yami didn't really like it. It reminded him too much of how he acted when thinking of his own parents. "What happened?" he asked softly. He wasn't going to push for an answer; he knew how annoying it was when people asked him that question.

"My dad…was killed when a group of thieves broke into our house," Yugi started, twisting the truth a little, "I was six at the time. He told my mom to take me and run away while he stayed to fight them off. We barely made it out of the house, but I already knew my dad was dead. My mom quickly drove to my grandpa's house where she dropped me off. Then she went back to our house. I never saw her again." What he didn't mention was that the men were assassins hired by Pegasus himself, and that just after the men broke into their house, he saw Pegasus standing across the street watching them.

"…I'm sorry," was all Yami could say. He had no idea that Yugi had been through that. He practically witnessed his parent's deaths. Yami only heard about it from his parent's friends the next day. 'How can he act so happy all the time?'

"It's ok," Yugi replied, looking down at the keys. "It was a long time ago."

"My parents died a while ago too," Yami said, half wondering why he had just offered that piece of information. "I was five and was sleeping at my friends house. My parents had gone to a…business meeting that night, but the building caught on fire. No one survived."

"Some life we've lived, huh?" Yugi said with a smile. Yami chuckled softly at the remark. "Amazing that we've come out of it relatively sane."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I lost my mind a while ago. At least that is what I'm told daily by the others."

Yugi giggled lightly. "We're all slightly insane on some level, I guess."

"Being insane really isn't that bad. You have an excuse for acting like an idiot."

"True, but use that excuse too much and it doesn't work anymore."

"When that time comes, just make up a new excuse." Yami replied, tapping on random keys.

"Guess so. Hey, here's a stupid question."

"What?"

"Are we actually having a conversation? You and me?"

Yami blinked and was silent for a second. "I guess…we are. I didn't even realize it." 'Strange how it's so easy to talk to him,' he thought. 'I don't feel like I have to hide anything.'

Just then Yugi's phone started to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he flipped the lid and then sighed. "I have to go." He stood up from the bench, and grabbed his bag which was by his feet. He headed towards the door, but stopped and turned around. "You know what I've realized? You aren't as big of a jerk as I thought."

"Is that a compliment?" Yami asked in surprise.

"Just take it," Yugi replied with a smile, before walking out.

-----------TBC----------

Star: Yay! Chapter done! I must admit, this one had me a bit stumped. Especially the end. But just because they were talking nicely in this one doesn't mean that they are suddenly friends/lovers. That comes much later. But hey, any progress is good progress, right? Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter! Hope to see you again at the next one! (which will hopefully be soon)


	7. Working Hard for Tomorrow

Star: Hey people! How's it going? Two updates in the span of a week! Isn't that a great achievement for me? Of course, don't expect another update this fast. I've been killing myself…well…ok, so I'm lying. This chapter was actually pretty easy to write. Maybe it's because I haven't been pushing myself to finish a chapter in a while.

Either way, I'm happy that I've been able to update this soon. The next update will be for Bright Shadows. So, expect that maybe at the beginning of April. But for now, enjoy this long awaited chapter of A Mask Over My Heart.

Disclaimer: Don't own, can't sue

"speech"

'thoughts'

"radio/phone/walkie talkie conversation"

"_Latin language"_

--------Working Hard for Tomorrow-------

The room was silent as hundreds of eyes stared at the giant, blank screen on the wall. Occasionally, the crackle of static would be heard over the intercom, but other than that it was quiet. Everyone was holding their breath in anticipation of good news, of anything that would give them a hint that their plans had gone well. Suddenly, one of the computers started beeping loudly and the man in front of it began typing a code in. He then smiled, and opened a link to the giant screen. "Satelite signal confirmed," he said as an image of an empty looking airfield appeared. The people let out a loud cheer; they had managed to disable the satelite jammers! Now they could keep track of all activity to keep their agents safe.

"Good job, everyone," Mai said from a balcony above the people. "Now send a message to the M.A.B. telling them to get their jets ready for takeoff in ten minutes." The people nodded and began to run around the room in a flurry of activities. Mai watched them for a second before turning back into the office behind her. She glanced to her left where Yugi was leaning against the glass pane, looking down at the people in the "Pup and the M.A.B agents will be keeping an eye on the power plant incase something goes wrong," she told him.

He turned his head to look at her, then turned away again. "We've got half an hour, at the most, to get the agents across those hills after the drug lords arrive at 8:30. Then another half hour for the troops attacking the weapons base. I don't like the way it's so rushed," he said, walking away from the glass pane. Going over to one of the computers, he watched as the Control member pulled up a satelite image of the surrounding topography.

"Well, there was no other way. We have a limited time to take out the drug lords," Mai replied. "The only other time we would have been able to attack would have been in a week. Mahaado felt that it was too risky to wait that long."

"It's risky enough sending a squadron of this size to two bases in the span of an hour," Yugi argued. "And we've just gotten a clear view of the weapon's base and the thirty surrounding miles. So that gives us fifteen minutes to go over the area and send the information to the troops. Then they have ten to adjust their battle plan to accommodate the new information. And then they have only five minutes to make sure that each soldier understands the new plan. And the time limit for the pilots is even shorter. We have forty five men per squad, and twelve squads. That's five hundred and fifty soldiers, plus seventy pilots. That's six hundred and twenty men total. By the time everyone is aware of the new plans, the enemy could have already detected us."

"Kitsune, we have a problem," Ryou said as he ran up the stairs from the balcony in the "About ten miles from the second base is a large hill that dips straight into a gulf. Squad 7 won't be able to go over it."

"See?" Yugi said, looking at Mai. "The problems just keep piling up. Now Squad 13 has to spend even more time trying to figure out how to get past. Which will leave our left side vulnerable, unless we divert jets to guard them. But then that would leave even more troops without backup." He was beginning to wish that he hadn't skipped school for this.

"We can figure out a way past this," she reassured him. "White, are the tanks able to cross the gulf?"

"Barely. It's not so steep that they can't drive down, but getting up might be the hard part," Ryou answered as he looked at the sheet of paper in his hands. "The jeeps might have more trouble, and it's impossible for the ones on foot."

"Have the foot soldiers join up with Squads 12 and 5," Mai said after some thought. "The tanks can go down, and so can the jeeps." Ryou nodded and ran back out and down the stairs. "See, it's not impossible," Mai said, turning towards Yugi.

"We'll just see," he said, walking out to the balcony and down the stairs. Crossing the room quickly, he headed towards the third row of computers. He stood behind the technicians for a few minutes, watching them pull up satelite images of the thirteen troops for the M.A.B and U.S.A.B. So far it looked as if Squad 7 was the only one having trouble. The other squads were advancing quickly across the Mexican landscape. Looking up at the giant screen, he looked at the images of the weapons base. The people on the base seemed to be running around, preparing for something. Yugi narrowed his eyes; could they have already found out of their attack? It was possible, since the power plant had to have warned them about the satelite jammers malfunctioning.

The good thing was that, other than a few tanks and a shit load of weapons, neither base seemed to have strong defenses. And, unless they had planes or underground tunnels, there was not much option for escape. So everything should go well. But that was only if Pegasus didn't have soldiers waiting for the Alter soldiers. But, so far, none of the satellites had picked up on any life forms surrounding the bases. Which meant that there were no troops waiting in ambush. But one could never be too sure, especially when it came to Pegasus. That man definitely had something planned in case of an attack. The only thing he could think of, other than having troops to attack the Alter soldiers, was if he had rigged the bases to explode.

Explosions were a favorite of Pegasus. The last two bases that Pegasus had dealt with had mysteriously blown up. They weren't very important to the mission, so Alter had ignored them. But if these two bases blew up, Alter would be back at square one. They'd have to work even harder to find out what exactly Pegasus was planning. All they knew at the moment was that he had nuclear weapons hidden in the mountains of Indonesia. 'Where' was the question they were trying to figure out. And where exactly were they being produced, because shipments only came into Indonesia. Never out. So Yugi was hoping that these bases weren't detonated.

He involuntarily shivered as he thought back to the first time he had met Pegasus when he was twelve. In that warehouse in the Russian wilderness. Gripping his right arm, he tried to block the memories of that night. Images of his fallen team mates filled his mind as his whole body burned from the fire that raged all around him. He was completely lost in pain as he watched the blood flow from his burnt body. He cried as he tried to forget everything that just happened. He then looked up into cold eyes and a cruel smile before they disappeared. And then he heard himself scream as a bomb went off on the floor beneath him.

"-it…Kit…Kitsune!" Yugi jerked out of his memories as he felt Ryou shaking him. Turning to look at his friend, he noticed the worried look the other had. "Are you ok?"

Yugi looked at him for a second before walking away towards the first row of computers. "How many jets have taken off already?" he asked, leaning over so he could see the data on the jets. Everything seemed to be in order so far.

"Twenty two planes from the M.A.B., and twelve from the U.S.A.B.," Ryou answered, the concerned look still on his face.

"What's taking the U.S. soldiers so long? Don't they know we're on a tight schedule?" Yugi asked angrily.

"One of the planes had a sudden drop in tire pressure on it's front tires," Ryou said as he pulled up the report on the computer. "They are repairing it right now, but with that plane out, the groups had to be shifted. So now squad 8 has only 3 planes for it's perimeter."

"Wonderful! What else can go wrong?" the young agent stormed back towards Mai's office. This was not a good start for this mission. If anything else went wrong, they could just forget about the whole thing completely. Little problems always added up to a failed mission in Yugi's opinion. Although he had never personally been part of a failed mission, he had seen enough missions go bust to know about it. And he wasn't about to break his perfect record over something so stupid as a bad landscape and tire pressure. "Scarab, how are the troops fairing?" he asked as he entered the office.

"So far so good," the Egyptian agent answered, looking up from one of the computers. "Squad 7 has just managed to join up with 12 and 5. The tanks are now attempting to cross the gulf."

"How many agents were with 7?"

"Eight, including Cyclone. And the rest were soldiers. Two agents stayed behind with the tanks and jeeps just incase something happened." His headset crackled for a few seconds before the sound of a male speaking Spanish was heard. Malik nodded and typed numbers on the computer. The screen image changed to just a few miles before the weapons base. "Kitsune, one of the jets picked up on this strange formation in the landscape about ten miles before the drug base."

"What kind of 'strange formation'?" Yugi asked, quickly rushing over to look at the screen.

"The kind that moves," Malik answered, watching the object drift across the screen. Zooming in the satelite image, he focused on the object. "I can't tell what it is."

"White, have someone scan the object for life forms or radio waves," Yugi ordered. Ryou nodded and ran back down the stairs to the "Why didn't our scanners pick up on this before?"

"Because it didn't appear until just now," Mai answered. "A few minutes ago, we picked up a change in the topography. A piece of land was suddenly raised eight feet. It stayed up for about three minutes, before it lowered itself again. We tried to find the source, but were unable. Pup is looking into if any electricity came from it."

Ryou ran back in, carrying print outs of the object. "We picked up on radio waves coming from it. It's not sending them, it's receiving them."

"From where?" Yugi asked, looking over the papers.

"We don't know," Ryou answered with a sigh. "But it seems that every ten seconds it gives of a tiny bit of heat. When it does, it stops moving."

Malik began talking to someone through his headset again, typing more coordinates into his computer. "It's moving south by south west at a speed of ten miles per hour. It looks to be seven feet high, ten feet long, and seven feet long. The pilots see three long mounds on top of it, but it's too dark for it to be seen properly."

Ryou looked over the paper, and pointed at something on top of the moving object. "Those are what give off the heat."

They all looked over the images of the moving object, trying to figure out what exactly it was holding. Mai's eyes suddenly widened as she gasped. "Wait! That shape is very familiar."

The agent's eyes widened as well as they recognized the object. "No fucking way!" Malik yelled, zooming in as much as he could on his computer. "Those sneaky bastards!"

"Scarab, send a command to all jets to watch it closely. Don't let it out of our sight! And send a message to all squads with in ten miles to change their approach immediately. I don't want any troops near that thing," Yugi ordered as he headed out to the balcony. Malik nodded and began to relay the message. "Attention, everyone!" he called out loudly. Everyone in the stopped what they were doing and turned to him. "We have a big problem now. The enemy has sent out a robotic missile launcher."

The whole room gasped then began to talk loudly. How did they miss that? Where did it come from? How could they have gotten their hands on something so sophisticated? "This was obviously Pegasus' plan from the start!" Yugi continued. "I want that thing disabled as quickly as possible. Jam the radio signals, and, if possible, reprogram it for our use. Have it done in ten minutes, or our troops will be in big trouble." The people nodded and began to run around, trying to complete their new orders.

"Sir," a female said as she ran up towards the balcony. "Our satellites have picked up on two more launchers that just came out of the ground. They are about five hundred yards apart and heading in different directions."

"White, I want a diagram of both of the bases on the main screen at all times. There must be a pattern to where these things are coming from. Find it, then have Pup and his team cut power to that area." Ryou nodded, and turned on his own headset, contacting Pup and giving him the order. Yugi sighed, and gripped the railing tightly. He really didn't like this mission. Their only hope now was if they were able to take out the missile launchers. But they didn't know what else Pegasus had in store.

A few minutes passed and three more launchers appeared on the screen. Three for the weapons base, and three for the drug base. Pup had managed to shut the power for the rest of the launch ramps before anymore could come out. But six launchers were still a lot to deal with. They didn't know if the missiles were aimed at their planes or at the troops. Either way, it was bad. But Yugi wasn't so worried about the planes. They could send out decoys; the ground troops couldn't. He smiled a bit when he was notified that two launchers had been taken out. Now only four more to worry about. If only that was all they had to deal with.

Time passed, and everything seemed to be going well. The drug lords had arrived at the drug base by helicopter a few minutes before 8:30. They had been taken inside one of the small buildings, and had yet to come out. There were only two ways of escape from the buildings, and Alter had troops approaching from both sides. One of the officers had confirmed that there was one escape tunnel leading from the base, but it was still in range of the troops. If they attempted to escape by air, the jets would take them out quickly.

"Things are going smoothly, Sir," Malik said after he finished talking to one of the squad leaders. "Squads 1, 3, 4, and 9 are in place around the drug base. 2, 5, 6, and 8 are around the weapons base. The remaining squads have flanked around the perimeters of both bases as back up." It was now after ten in Mexico, and the Alter troops had finally managed to get in place. More than half an hour after they were supposed to, all thanks to the multiple changes they had had to make.

"Has squad 7 reformed yet?"

"They are awaiting the arrival of the jeeps. But the foot soldiers and the two tanks are together."

Yugi was about to respond when all the computers started beeping, and the people in the began frantic yelling. Rushing over to an empty computer, Yugi pulled up the satelite images of the drug base. Hundreds of men were rushing out of the base, firing wildly at the Alter troops. So the battle had finally started. "Scarab, have the attack begin at the weapon's base. We're not waiting anymore."

All of Control watched as their troops fought against the enemy at both bases. The battle had been going on for an hour now, and it was after eleven p.m. The jets were constantly firing missiles at the warehouses on the drug base, hoping to take out all the goods. The drug lords suddenly ran out of the building where they had been meeting. Running across the air field, they entered one of the warehouses. The Alter soldiers began to chase after them, firing at the guards that had surrounded the entrance. Just then, a large tank burst from inside the warehouse, driving directly towards the group of soldiers. It began to fire multiple rounds into the group as it made its way down the tarmac. The soldiers retreated as fast as they could, but many began to fall all around it.

"Damnit, take out that tank!" Yugi yelled into his earpiece. An American lieutenant responded quickly, and Yugi got madder. "You have planes! Fire a missile at the tank, and destroy it!" Cutting off communication, he looked over at Malik. "How are they doing at the weapons base?"

"Three tanks are down, and two squads have been annihilated." Pulling up the image on a large screen inside the office, he zoomed in on the main warehouse. "The enemy is doing a good job defending this building." The sound of gunfire and yells filled the room as everyone watched as an Alter tank drove straight into a smaller warehouse. Fire began to spread all around the inside of the building while soldiers ran in. Another gun fight began as the soldiers began to take out the enemy. Part of the building suddenly exploded as a hand grenade went off. Yugi scowled as he watched his troops get blown up. Another grenade went off in another part of the base, and the agent felt like ripping his hair out.

Switching his attention to the battle at the drug base, he saw that the soldiers were still firing at the tank. The jets were trying to lock on to it, but they are also trying to avoid being locked on by the enemy's missiles. A black car suddenly sped out of a garage, and began to head for the gates. The soldiers near the gates began to fire upon it, but the car weaved in and out of their range. Finally one of the bullets managed to hit the back left tire, and the car swerved across the air field. The driver regained control again and the car began to head for the fence. It crashed into the fence, tearing it apart as it drove across the land.

Three jeeps began to chase after it, firing all they had at the car. Bullet holes riddled the car body, but it kept moving. The jeeps chased the car all around the area, but they never could get a good aim on it. Five minutes went by and still not one jeep had managed to land a good shot on the car. The sun roof on the top of the black car then opened, and two large men stood up. They pulled out semi automatic machine guns and began to fire back at the jeeps. The Alter jeeps began to dodge the fire as best as they could without toppling over one of the large mounds on the ground. One of the jeeps was suddenly hit through the windshield on the driver's side, and it spun out of control then slid to a stop. The soldiers inside began to frantically run around, apparently moving the injured driver. The black car, noticing their predicament, began to race towards them. The two men started to fire on the soldiers around the jeep. The men had no time to fire back, and started to run behind the car for protection. Three men were shot down, and the black car spun around to aim at them again.

The other two jeeps sped as fast as they could towards the car, hoping to hit it head on. The black car took off towards the left, away from the soldiers. One jeep surrounded the stalled one to give their fellow soldiers a chance to get back inside. The second continued to chase after the car around the desert. The two other jeeps then joined it, driving beside each other as they yelled out orders to each other. They then split up and two began to approach from the sides. They sped up faster than the car, and suddenly drove in front of it. Having no other choice, the car veered to the right and turned around. But before it could go anywhere, it's two front tires were blown out. The car swerved wildly on the desert, before it hit a small hill. Flying through the air, it crashed and flipped upside down a bit before lying still.

Everything was still on the screen for a few seconds, and everyone in the Control room was holding their breath. Slowly, the Alter soldiers climbed out of their jeeps and headed towards the overturned car, guns at the ready. The soldiers suddenly tensed and pointed their guns towards the car. Four men began to climb out of the wreckage, and raised their hands in surrender. The intercom came to life as one of the soldiers reported, "Drug lords have been captured." Everyone cheered and Yugi let out a sigh of relief. It was about time they got an advantage.

"Good job," he said, turning away from the screen and heading over to a computer. "Have a helicopter bring-"

"Sir! Incoming missile!"

Yugi had barely turned around when the screen was filled with a bright light and the sound of an explosion reverberated through the whole room. He stood there, mouth agape, as the smoke began to rise from the ground. Frenzied calls began to come in through the intercoms, all the generals trying to get information on what the explosion was. Of course, Control didn't know what had caused it. And Yugi couldn't do anything but stare at the screen.

"Sir, we've traced the origin of the missile," Ryou said. "It was a robotic missile launcher that we'd failed to notice."

"Failed to notice? FAILED TO NOTICE! What kind of piss poor excuse is that!" Yugi yelled, finally snapping. "Our best leads to take down Pegasus have just been blown to pieces along with twelve of our soldiers, and all you can say is that we 'failed to notice' an attack coming?" Storming out of the room, he went down the steps of the balcony and headed towards a main computer terminal, Ryou following quickly after. "What the hell do you think all this technology is for if we can't even spot one missile coming at our soldiers?" Now he really wished that he hadn't skipped school. This was one of the most poorly prepared missions he had ever been on. Everyone dived out of the way as Yugi went down towards the terminal. "What happened to taking out all of them?" he asked a group of people surrounding the computer. "I gave you one job, and that was to divert the radio signals to stop them. How did you let this one go?"

Ryou stepped between him and the cowering officers. It was amazing how frightening Yugi could be when he was pissed off beyond all reason. "Kitsune, Sir, this missile launcher was not part of the group from before. It was not on our radar."

"And when exactly did it appear on our radar?" Yugi asked, trying to keep from throwing something.

"Thirty seconds before the missile was launched," one of the cowering officers said as he read off the data from the satelite.

"And why hadn't we noticed it before?"

"It wasn't moving, and all radio transmissions had been turned off. To out satellites and planes, it looked like just another dirt mount."

Yugi groaned and began to tug at his hair, walking away from the officers. Ryou sighed and followed him again. Instead of going back upstairs to the office, they walked right out of the Going down the hall quickly, he entered an elevator and pressed the button numbered '15'. "It's been two hours, and we still haven't gotten anywhere. Is it too much to ask for everything to go smoothly?" he asked, leaning against the wall and watching the numbers go down from 30.

"When does a mission ever go smoothly, especially in Alter?" Ryou responded with his own answer. "Come on, you've been in this agency since the day you were born. Is there really a need to ask that question?"

"Ten soldiers and two agents: blown up. Three drug lords: blown up. Our lead to Pegasus and his plans: blown up." The elevator doors opened with a soft 'bing' and the two agents walked out. Yugi took a left down the first corridor and headed towards a door at the end of the hall. Opening it, the two entered an office room that overlooked the J.A.B. air field. Yugi took a seat behind the desk, while Ryou sat down on the black, leather couch. "The whole point of this mission: blown up."

Ryou took off his earpiece and straightened his hair. All that running around in the made his hair a tangled mess. "We still have those other two drug lords. As we speak, agents are tracking them down."

"And how do we know that they won't be blown up as well?"

"It'll be fine," Ryou reassured. "They will be caught. And we'll get to the bottom of Pegasus' plans."

Yugi turned his chair to look outside. The air field was surrounded with small blue lights, that blinked slowly in unison. A car drove down the tarmac and disappeared into one of their garages. He looked out at the ocean and watched the afternoon sun shine off the water's surface. It was a little before five in the afternoon and it was quiet here. Unlike over in Mexico, where his fellow agents and soldiers were fighting a battle that seemed lost.

-----

Far away from the J.A.B., on the other side of the world, Pegasus watched the battle on a large television set in his office in his Los Angeles office. He smiled as he took a sip of his wine, putting down the long stemmed glass on the desk in front of him. He leaned back in his chair as his eyes darted around the screen, taking in all the action from the battle field. It seemed that he had the advantage so far. Those men defending the bases were vicious. They were firing at Alter soldiers left and right, and they didn't care if they were hurt. Pegasus watched as two agents snuck up on a group, and watched the men fall quickly. The agents didn't even stop to catch a breath as they ran away towards a group of soldiers who were coming under fire.

Pegasus was a bit disappointed in Alter's efforts in this battle. It seemed that they weren't even trying. The soldiers were absolutely pathetic, and the agents weren't better. Only a handful of agents were actually doing some damage to the numbers of gang members. Particularly one male with short brown hair. Pegasus smirked as the brown haired agent sliced a man's throat open with a small dagger. It seemed this agent was fond of sharp weapons. He had only used his gun twice, and that was to help a fellow agent who was far away. Pegasus blinked and suddenly two other men were clutching their throats as the brown haired agent ran off. If all agents were as diligent as this one, then Pegasus would have a problem. But there was still one agent that could beat this brown haired man. And Pegasus was pretty sure that the agent he was thinking of was pulling out his hair right about now.

The C.E.O. typed into his computer, and the image on the television changed to another. It was the car chase across the Mexican landscape. The jeeps were still going after the black car, but they hadn't caught up yet. Then one of the jeeps started swerving wildly, before skidding to a stop. People began to run out of the jeep, and it looked like they were pulling someone out. But before they could, bullets began to rain down on them as the black car of the drug lord's approached quickly. The other two jeeps chased it away, and the third jeep started up again. Thus began the race once more. A few more minutes went by and nothing happened, until one of the jeeps finally managed to blow out the remaining tires. The black car flipped over a few times before landing upside-down in a smoking wreck. The three drug lords and one body guard climbed out, and were being taken into custody.

Pegasus smirked; there was no way he was going to give Alter that victory. Punching in a few codes on his computer, he watched as thirty seconds later the screen was filled with flames and smoke. 'Too easy,' he thought as Alter jets began to surround the area. 'Alter really should give me more credit. Did they actually think that I would let them take those drug lords so easily? Well, at least now I have three less problems to deal with.' He reached over to the wine glass and, picking it up, saluted the screen. "Thank you, Alter. For helping me get rid of that baggage."

What happened to the two bases in Mexico didn't bother Pegasus. They had served their purpose, and to keep them would cause issues that Pegasus didn't have the patience to deal with. They had helped him secure deals with the Mexican and Soviet governments to fund his nuclear weapons program in Indonesia. Of course, North Korea was standing in his way, but Pegasus was already making plans to deal with them. He'd either convince them to join him, or he'd destroy their weapons facilities. But he wasn't going to let anyone stop him from his plans of world domination. Especially not Alter, and especially not Kitsune. But he did hope that they would at least try a little harder to defeat him. Because tonight's battle was just sad. If Kitsune had been there, things would have been much more interesting.

"Sir, an urgent call is coming in from Mr. Marquez," his American secretary said through the intercom. "He's on line two."

Pegasus sighed and picked up the phone. He didn't want to be interrupted at the moment. He was having too much fun watching Alter struggle to defeat the gang members at both bases. "What is it?"

"Sir, I have bad news about the other two drug lords," a male responded in a thick, Spanish accent.

"What happened?" Pegasus asked, sitting up straight now.

"There was a spy with the bodyguards you assigned to them. He led Alter straight to them."

"Fuck!" Pegasus yelled and he slammed the wine glass against the wall. The red liquid slowly dripped down the wall, pooling on the ground amidst glass shards. The C.E.O took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, before he answered back, "You fool. You should have been more careful! Now Alter is going to find out all about the other bases!"

"But, Sir, isn't there any way to track them down?" the man asked meekly.

"No, you idiot! I didn't expect anyone to find them in the most remote part of Central America!" Pegasus sighed and rubbed his temples with his free hand. Great, just great. He should have known better than to believe Alter was without their own tricks. But when Kitsune isn't directly involved, Pegasus usually doesn't try as hard. He had completely forgotten that Kitsune was smart enough to plan ahead for his tricks. It had been so long since he had faced Kitsune. But he would be on his toes from now on. He couldn't afford another slip up such as this. "All we can do now is prepare for them to attack the base in Japan."

"When do you believe that will happen, Sir?"

"As soon as they can. Alter isn't going to waste time on this one. The second they get everything ready, that base will be under fire." Pegasus fell silent for a few minutes as he thought of what he might be able to do to defend the base in Japan. That base was far more important than the ones in Mexico. It was one of the direct shipping routes to Indonesia. All the shipments of money and weapons from Mexico had been sent to Japan. And if the Japanese base was attacked, then Alter would find out where exactly in Indonesia the nuclear weapons were being stored. And from there, they would find out that the bombs were being created in India's mountains. And if the Indian labs was destroyed, then Pegasus' plans for domination would be ruined.

There was only one way that Alter could be stopped. Only one person could protect the Japanese base long enough to get all, or most, of the supplies out of there. This person might even be the only person to go up against Kitsune and not die immediately. He hadn't had to depend on this person in a while, so he hoped that this idea would work. Otherwise, they were screwed. He hung up on Mr. Marquez, then picked up the receiver and quickly dialed a number from his memory. He waited impatiently for the person on the other line to pick up, his fingers tapping on the wood of the desk. Finally the other line was picked up.

"What do you want now?"

"I want Kaze."

------

The next day at school the four agents had trouble keeping their eyes open and their heads off the desk. The battle had lasted at least four hours, and ended around two in the morning in Mexico, which was seven at night in Japan. There had been a lot of work to do afterwards, and none of them had gotten to bed until four in the morning. So waking up in two hours was not something they had wanted to do. They didn't want to even think about the battle anymore. Both sides had suffered heavy losses. Alter had lost about six whole squads, and twenty three jets had been shot down. So all in all, they had lost almost three hundred men. The only good thing was that the enemy had suffered far worse. And in the end, both bases had been reduced to smoldering rubble. But Yugi and the others were no longer interested. They had managed to capture the last two drug lords, thanks to the spies they had in the gang. So now, they once again had a lead on Pegasus.

Yugi yawned as he doodled on a piece of loose leaf paper in art. He was far too tired to even think about working on his project. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep. But he knew that as soon as school was over he would have to go back to the J.A.B. and read over the reports of both battles. He would have to go over every image from the satelite feeds, and he would be presented with the schematics for the damaged tanks and planes. Then he would have to write a report on how and why they were damaged. Which would have to be tied in with the satelite images. Then he would have to go over a casualty list from both the M.A.B and the U.S.A.B troops. Then he'd have to do a million other things that he really didn't want to do. He probably would be up all night again doing all this work.

The agent blinked sleepily and looked over at Jou who was leaning against the wall as support. He was about to fall out of his chair, but he made no move to stop himself. His reflexes were slow today, as were the other three agents. Jou had spent the whole battle working on disabling the power to the bases, which was no easy feat. The power plant workers were very fast at restoring power, and their programs for the backup generators were incredibly advanced. Not only that, but he was also presented with the job of taking out radio waves from all communications systems that did not belong to Alter. All because those stupid officers in the didn't do a good job of taking out all missile launchers.

Jou's head dropped to his desk, and he began to snore lightly. He could no longer fight to keep himself awake, and he didn't want to. If it weren't for appearances, he would have stayed at his apartment and slept through the day. But all four of them had skipped school yesterday with out a reason, and they couldn't afford getting in trouble with the administration. Especially now that they had those two drug lords in custody. So they had to act like perfect civilian students so that nothing would get in the way. At the moment, though, Jou couldn't care less about any of that. He was finally asleep.

Bored crimson eyes watched him sleep, before glancing over to Yugi who looked like he was about to drop dead. Yami vaguely wondered why the two were so tired. Even Malik and Ryou looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion. Yami got up and walked over to Jou's desk where the blonde teen was still sleeping, his papers fluttering with each exhale of breath. Yami gently shook Jou's shoulder in an attempt to wake the boy up, but it didn't work. Jou was sleeping like a log. Yami rolled his eyes and poked Jou in the side. Jou jerked awake, yelling, "I don't want the pudding!" The whole class fell silent as they all stared at Jou, who blinked in confusion. Yami snickered and received a half hearted glare in return. "That wasn't nice, bastard," Jou told him as he put his head back down on the desk.

"But it was funny," Yami answered, sitting down next to Jou. "What's with you today?"

"Nothing," Jou muttered, drifting off to sleep again. Yami sighed and poked him again. Jou jerked up again, and smacked Yami on the back of the head. "Stop doing that! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"

"Then you shouldn't stay up so late."

"I couldn't help it," Jou muttered again, putting his head on the desk once again. "_I spent all night trying to stop those stupid plant workers from turning back on the power and it sucked because they were better than I thought, so I had to work really hard."_ Jou hadn't realized that he had switched to speaking in Latin, and didn't notice the confused look on Yami's face. Suddenly an eraser flew across the room and smacked Jou hard on the head. "God damnit, if one more person hits me, I'll break their arm!"

"_Pup, you shut your mouth right now!"_ Yugi spat. He had heard what Jou was saying, and freaked out. Even though he knew that no one understood Latin, he still couldn't take the risk. So he had climbed on his desk and hurled the eraser at his teammate's head. "_I don't care how tired you are, you are NOT to speak of anything concerning the mission in front of civilians."_

_"Sorry, Sir. I didn't realize what I was saying."_

_"Well, pay better attention next time!"_ Yugi caught Yami's gaze for a second, then sat back down and buried his head in his arms and tried to sleep.

Yami looked back and forth between the two for a second before giving up on trying to figure out what had happened. He was quickly learning that, whenever either of the four began to talk in that strange language, it was useless to try and understand the situation. "So can you tell me why you were out all day yesterday, or will you get hit again?"

"I'll have a desk thrown at my head," Jou answered. He closed his eyes for a few minutes before opening them. "Did anything interesting happen yesterday?"

Yami leaned on his elbows as he thought back to the previous school day. "Well…Bakura and Marik were caught sneaking out chemicals from the science labs. Apparently, they were planning on creating a big explosion as a senior prank."

Jou chuckled. "Idiots. So how long is their sentence?"

"Two months Saturday detention, and they have to clean the school once a week."

Jou rolled his eyes. "Idiots. That'll teach them. But they'll probably figure out another senior prank by the time their detention is over. Anything else?"

"Some freshmen were playing with a baseball at lunch, and the ball hit Kaiba's car. The alarm went off, and they freaked out. But that was nothing compared to how freaked they were when he got there. He bitched them out so much, one of them started crying!" Yami laughed at the memory of those two kids cowering in fear.

"He's such a jackass," Jou scoffed. "I can't believe he actually made one cry."

"But they hit his car," Yami defended.

"So? That doesn't give him the right to scare the shit out of them. Someone needs to punch him in the face."

"Well, good luck with that." Honestly, Jou and Seto were always at each other's throats. While it was amusing to see Jou blow up at being called mutt, it was starting to become a pain. Yami had told Jou a million times to ignore his cousin, but every time they were together, someone always started something. Granted, that someone was usually Seto, but Jou needed to learn to keep his temper in check. But, then again, Yami wasn't really one to talk about controlling tempers. He especially didn't have control when it came to Yugi.

But so far, Yugi hadn't done anything to annoy him. Of course it was only first period, but usually by this time they had already snapped at each other. It could just be the exhaustion that everyone seemed to be feeling. Earlier in the morning, Yugi had accidentally bumped into Yami, and he had apologized. He actually apologized! Normally, he would make some snide comment about how Yami should get out of the way, but not today. Today he apologized then staggered off towards the others. Yami had to admit that caught him by surprise. And he was going to snap at him too. But all he could do was stare and nod.

The conversation in the music room had been repeating itself in Yami's mind for the past two days. He couldn't forget how easy it was to talk calmly with the other. Which surprised him, considering all their arguments. But even through their arguments they yelled freely at each other. Most people would consider that a bad thing, but it just seemed that talking with each other came easily. Although yesterday was the first time that they hadn't raised their voices at each other. In fact, Yami had caught himself more than once wishing that the conversation had not been cut short.

And, of course, the comment that Yugi had made stuck in his mind. 'You aren't as big of a jerk as I thought'. Did that mean that Yugi was changing his opinion of him, if only a little? Did Yami want him to change opinions of him? Or did he still want to remain the annoying bastard to the other teen? Before that day, his answer would have been easy to predict. But now…he didn't know. It wasn't as if he was suddenly fond of Yugi; he still considered the kid an annoying little punk. But he couldn't deny that he had liked talking to the kid peaceably. He just felt more relaxed than usual; as if all his barriers were slowly being lowered. He usually didn't feel so open around people, not even Seto or Jou.

So what was he to think? It wasn't like he suddenly considered Yugi his best friend, or anything. But maybe he should cut back on bugging the kid. If it meant that they would have more talks like that, then he was willing to try. But that didn't mean anything, other than he wanted to talk. And he for sure wasn't going to tell anyone that. The last thing he wanted was to get teased by the others. And, knowing Marik and Bakura, they would blow it completely out of proportion. Then a rumor would start, and the whole school would be talking about it. Yeah, it was definitely better to keep that tidbit of information to himself.

The bell finally rung, and everyone got up and started packing their books. Yugi and Jou were slower than everyone else though, seeing as how they had both fallen asleep. Yami sat on the desk and waited for Jou to finish packing so they could get out of the art room. He sighed as Jou dropped his pencil for the third time; if he was so tired, why didn't he just stay home? He looked over when he heard Yugi walk up to them. The other sighed as well, and grabbed Jou's pencil from the floor.

"Hurry up," Yugi said. "You take too long."

"Well, sorry if I'm too tired to focus," Jou answered as he finally got his things together. The three began to walk out of the room and to their next classes.

"Shut up. I'm just as tired." Yugi then yawned, and shook his head to wake himself up more. "Hey, Yami. What did you do in algebra yesterday?"

"Learned things."

"Like?"

"Like math things."

"Which chapter?"

"Seven." Yugi nodded in thanks. Yami was once again surprised that the kid hadn't yelled at him to stop fucking around. "There are three worksheets due for homework."

"That's insane. Was it hard?" Yugi asked as they approached his classroom.

"Depends on what you mean by hard," Yami said with a shrug.

"'Shoot yourself' hard."

"No, it wasn't. But then again, math isn't hard for me."

"So basically, I just have to see for myself?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Wonderful," the teen agent groaned. "See ya," he said as he walked inside his chemistry class.

The other two walked through the crowd in silence as they headed to their psychology class. They only had two minutes to go up three flights of stairs and down the hall to the right. They weren't worried, though, because their teacher was really nice. She understood that it was a long trek through hundreds of students across a large campus. They reached their classroom just as the bell rang and took their seats by the window. Yami looked up at the ceiling as he leaned back in his desk. The music class was on the floor above this class and across the hall. And the piano was on the right side of the class next to the window.

"I'm surprised," Jou suddenly said, and Yami turned to look at him.

"Why?"

"Because you and Yugi haven't yelled at each other all day. In fact, that last conversation was actually nice."

Yami shrugged and turned to the front. "He just asked about what happened in class. It's not a big deal."

"But normally, you wouldn't have answered him. You would have told him to find out for himself, which would start a big argument. So why were you so nice?" Jou asked with a smirk.

Yami shrugged again, and mentally cursed himself for acting so nice. "I just didn't feel like being an ass at the moment. But I will if you keep smirking like that." Ok, so maybe he shouldn't act so nice to Yugi around the others. Jou was sharp, and he picked up on things like this easily. "I don't have to be a jerk to him all the time."

"But I thought that you liked being a jerk to Yugi. That it was your new favorite hobby, and that you liked seeing him get pissed off. What's with this new way of thinking?"

Yami sighed and rolled his eyes. He watched the teacher pull out their tests from a few days ago, and start calling people up to get them. "Jou, just tell me what you are hinting at before I smash your face in."

"Well, maybe something happened to change your mind about him."

"Something like what?"

"I don't know. But you should."

Yami heard his name called, and he stood up and strode over to the desk, snatching it before heading back to his desk. He refused to answer Jou or even look at him at the moment. He was not going to get dragged into that conversation. Especially since Jou had assumed that he had changed his opinion of Yugi. He hadn't; Yugi was still an annoying brat, and nothing would change that. The only difference was that Yami had realized that talking to him wasn't as horrible as he had once thought. But then again, he had to bring up the fact that they had never had a 'nice' conversation before two days ago. Was he being too quick to judge? It could have been a one time thing. After all, Yami had been in a slightly depressed mood, and Yugi had seemed preoccupied. That might have been the only reason the conversation had gone so well. Yea, that was probably it. "You are insane if you think my opinions of that obnoxious, little punk have changed. I still hate him, and I always will."

"If you say so."

------

Malik was annoyed as hell. And it was all thanks to one certain senior who wouldn't stop bugging him. If it wasn't for that stupid Alter rule, Malik would have beaten the hell out of the other a long time ago. 'Stupid Marik,' he thought as he buried his head in his arms. 'Why can't that jackass just leave me alone?' All through their civics class, the other teen had been bothering him. He kept asking questions about why he was so tired, or where he had been all day yesterday, or even random questions like how was the weather? Malik was already pissed off from his lack of sleep and from yesterday's battle. But this new addition to his list of annoyances was testing his patience. At least the teacher wasn't bothering him about sleeping in class.

Marik watched Malik fall asleep slowly, and he smirked. Poor Malik; today just didn't seem like it was going well for him. Of course, with Marik bothering him all through class, it probably wasn't making it better. But he just liked teasing his look-a-like. Malik always had the most interesting reactions. 'I should probably let him sleep,' Marik thought, but he still got up and went towards Malik's desk. He gazed upon the sleeping teen for a minute, then leaned over Malik's shoulder. "Hey, Malik. Are you awake?" he whispered into the agent's ear.

Malik didn't move, nor did he make a sound. He was fast asleep, and it didn't look like he would wake up any time soon. "Wake up, sleepy head," Marik said, gently poking the other teen's shoulder. Malik grunted and shifted slightly, but other than that he still didn't lift his head. Marik smirked again; well, if he wasn't going to wake up on his own then Marik would just have to jerk him awake. "If you don't wake up when I count to three, I'm gonna kiss you," he teased, brushing his lips lightly against Malik's ear. "One…" he began counting as he lowered his lips towards Malik's, trailing them lightly against the teen's cheek. "Two…" He stopped, hovering his lips above Malik's, waiting to see if there was any reaction from the other male. Seeing none, Marik lowered his lips. "Three."

Suddenly a hand was wrapped around his throat, and Marik was staring into hardened lavender eyes. "Not in a million years," Malik seethed, pushing Marik away roughly. "Ass."

"Well, at least you are awake now," Marik laughed, rubbing his throat. Damn, Malik had a strong grip.

"Bastard," Malik said as looked away, glaring at a random spot on the wall. He could feel his face becoming hot, and hoped that it wasn't noticeable to the other. Marik was such a jerk, messing with him like that. To actually attempt to kiss him was just way too much. Of course, Malik had been awake since the beginning, but he hadn't seen a reason to let the other know. Until Marik had come too close. The teen agent could still feel Marik's lips grazing his cheek, and he glared harder as he felt his face become even hotter.

That wasn't the first time that Marik had pulled a stunt like that. It was the first time he had gotten so close to actually going through with it, though. Everyday, the teen would find a way to pester Malik. It was that he'd either hug him, wrap his arm around Malik's shoulder, and one time Marik even dared to hold his hand! He was constantly around Malik, and was always trying for some form of physical contact. At first it had been embarrassing, but now it was just annoying. However, Malik couldn't help but feel happy when the other did that. He had absolutely no idea why he would feel happy, but the fact was that he did. Though it still bothered him, Malik couldn't help but like the attention he received. And he had a sneaking suspicion that Marik knew that fact.

"You are so mean," Marik said lightheartedly, kneeling down beside Malik's desk and resting his arms atop the desk. "And here I am trying to be nice."

"I don't need this type of niceness."

"Aww, don't you like me?" Marik asked, trying to look hurt. He poked Malik's arm repeatedly. "Huh? Don't you like me?"

Malik sighed and moved his arm out of Marik's reach. "I'd like to kick you." The agent placed his head back down on his arms, and gazed at Marik with a bored stare. "What's your fascination with bothering me?"

"Because I think it's fun."

Malik glared at the other half heartedly as he chewed on his lip. "It's not very nice though."

"But, in all honesty, does it really bother you as much as you say?" Marik asked with grin.

Malik's answer was immediate. "Yes!" But one look at Marik told the teen that the other wasn't buying it. And to be honest, it really didn't bother him as much as he pretended. He'd been dealing with Jou's stupidity for four years, so Marik wasn't really a bother. And he'd rather deal with Marik than Jou. Which wasn't saying much, since he'd rather deal with anyone than Jou.

"I said in all honesty," Marik responded as he began to poke Malik's arm again. "You were lying."

"What does it matter to you?"

"Because it means that I don't bother you as much as you'd like me to believe. And do you know what that means?"

"No, why don't you tell me," Malik said, rolling his eyes. Shouldn't they have been paying attention to the teacher? Why hadn't Marik gotten in trouble yet for being out of his desk?

"It means that you've grown used to me. Which is one step away from liking me."

"Well, don't hold your breath," Malik said as he watched the other continue to poke his arm.

"Aww, you really are mean to me."

"Yea, well, I think being mean to you is fun."

"As long as it makes you happy."

Malik looked into Marik's dark, violet eyes. The agent then sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't get it. You don't know me, and yet you act so open to me. Why?" Malik had always been taught never to let anyone get close to him. It was dangerous to develop any deep bonds with civilians, because he might never see them again. Or worse, they might be killed. Even Alter members weren't supposed to get too close to each other. Of course, he had extremely strong bonds with his friends, but he knew that if anything happened to any one of them, he was not supposed to shed a tear. So he didn't let many people get too close. And yet this civilian, someone who had barely known him for more than a month, was treating him as if they had been friends for years.

Marik blinked as he thought over the question. "Because we're friends. Isn't that obvious?"

"And yet you seem to bother me more than anyone else. Why is that?" Malik continued, closing his eyes.

Marik smiled and placed his forehead against Malik's. The agent opened his eyes and looked up at Marik, but he didn't move. "Because, I said it's fun."

"You have strange notions of fun," Malik answered, smiling lightly.

"I've been told that many times before," Marik said smugly.

"I bet you have," the agent said with a laugh. "I think you have to be one of the strangest people I've ever met."

"Stranger than Bakura?"

Malik chewed on his lip as he thought of an answer. They were both strange. Malik had a suspicion that they were both dropped on their heads as babies multiple times. There was no other explanation as to why they were as insane as they were. Of course, Ryou didn't seem to mind Bakura's insanity, despite all his denial. "He's psychotic strange. You are more…idiotic strange."

Marik pouted at the fact that Bakura was called the psychotic one. "I'm crazier than he is."

"Well, then you are a hyper, idiotic psycho. But Bakura strikes me as the always pissed off psycho."

"He is always pissed off. Not as much as Yami, though."

"Why is he always mad?" It had been bothering Malik for a while now. Yami never seemed to be in a good mood, and it always had something to do with his family life. Well, on occasion it was due to his girlfriend. Malik would have never even thought of dating someone like Anzu. She was a shallow bitch who took advantage of everyone around her. It was amazing that the whole school didn't gang up on her and lynch her.

"He has a lot of issues dealing with his dad," Marik answered with a sigh. "They don't really get along."

Malik nodded, understanding exactly why that would make the other teen angry. He didn't really have a good relationship with his parents either. It was all because he ran away to join Alter. They had forbidden him from joining, even though his sister was already in the organization. But he snuck out of his house one night, and caught a cab to the base. Since then, relations with his parents had been strained. And communication with them was little if any. In fact, the last time he had talked to his parents had been five months ago when he had called to tell his mother happy birthday. "Is his dad a jerk?"

"Kind of. I think it's more because he's not Yami real dad, and Yami doesn't think that the other has any right to tell him what to do. That, and his dad is a heartless business man who doesn't really give a shit about anyone else. He only takes care of Yami for appearances. Even though he's always giving Yami everything he wants."

"Wow," Malik answered. "That's sad. So, why does he keep picking on Yugi?"

Marik shrugged and shifted his weight from one knee to the other. "Maybe he's jealous because Yugi is so happy all the time."

'If you had seen him last night, you wouldn't be saying that,' Malik thought as he remembered how angry his teammate had been through the whole mission. Though Yugi had a right to be mad. Things had not gone well from the start, and the fact that three of the five drug lords had been blown up had not helped the agent's anger. Yugi was right in saying that it was far too soon to launch an attack, because they had not been prepared for any of Pegasus' counter attacks. They should have waited another day or two to be sure they were completely prepared, instead of rushing things the way they did. Maybe they would have suffered less casualties if they had waited.

Marik noticed Malik's mood changing, and tapped his forehead lightly against the other's. "Enough talking about those two. Hi."

Malik blinked up at Marik. "Hi." Marik really was a strange one.

"You know what?"

"No, why don't you tell me."

"You're pretty."

Malik almost fell out of his chair. He stared at the other and began to stutter as he tried to figure out what to say in reply to that. It was not everyday that someone said that to him, so he was a but lost as to how to react. Should he get mad? Defensive? Or should he just blush and act stupid like he was already doing? Through he whole thing, Marik was just sitting there with a smile on his face as if it were the most normal thing in the world to tell someone that they were pretty. Especially another guy. "I-I'm what?"

"Pretty," Marik easily repeated.

"Ok, you are definitely crazy! I am not pretty!" Malik said fiercely thought he had to whisper so he wouldn't draw attention from the rest of the class.

Marik just smiled at him, knowing full well how embarrassed the other was at the moment. And in his opinion, he looked even better when he was blushing from embarrassment. "Yes you are. I think you are very pretty."

"I officially hate you now," Malik said with a glare. Marik had just made his list of people who's asses he needed to kick. Calling him pretty of all things! Malik was completely and utterly insulted. Yet he was still blushing. Well, he'd chalk it up to being completely humiliated by being called pretty. It was definitely not because he was flattered, or because he liked the fact that Marik thought he was pretty. Nope, definitely not either one of those two. He was humiliated and pissed off, and he would stick with that logic.

"You're lying again," Marik said with a laugh, pinching Malik's cheek lightly. "I can see that blush, you know."

Malik pushed the other teen away and turned his body to the other side, burying his head back in his arms. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you say something stupid like that?" He was trying as hard as he could to keep the blush from getting stronger, but it wasn't working. He tried to think of how much he hated the other, but it still didn't work. He just couldn't get rid of the stupid, annoying blush.

"Because I mean it." Marik leaned over and pulled Malik's arm away, revealing his face. "And because I think it's funny when you blush."

"You really are an ass, you know that," Malik said, glaring once again at Marik. He suddenly noticed how close Marik was to him, and he tried to back away only to discover that he was already at the edge of the desk. If he backed up anymore, he'd be on the floor. That seemed like a much better place to be at the moment, but he really couldn't afford to get in trouble with the teacher. If he did, then Yugi would be on his case really quickly about how he needed to be more responsible.

"I know." Marik gently tugged on Malik's chin to turn his head. Malik's eyes widened as the other leaned in even closer. He couldn't help but gasp when he felt lips softly brush against his own. His mind was racing as he tried to think of ways to get away, but his body wouldn't listen to him. He could only sit there as the petal soft lips caressed his again. Then Marik suddenly pulled away and smiled at him. "But you'd be lying if you said it bothered you."

The bell then rang, signaling the end of class. Everyone packed their things and got up, storming the halls as they headed towards their homeroom. Even Marik left, ruffling Malik's hair as he walked out. The whole school began buzzing with chatter and laughter, except Malik couldn't join in. All he could do was wander the halls in a daze, his lips still tingling from the near kiss. He was sure the whole school could see his bright, red blush, which made him blush more in embarrassment. Stupid Marik, messing with him like that!

--------TBC-------

Star: Hey, hey! Hope you liked this chapter. I've actually cut out the two final scenes for this chapter. But don't worry, because I'm putting them in the next chapter. Otherwise, this chapter would be waaaaay too long.

So, I hope to see you at the next update of this story, and of Bright Shadows. Have a good one!


	8. BRAND NEW INFO!

HEY GUYS!!

It's Star, and I am alive!

Ok, so a lot has happened lately (I am now in college) and I just quit one job to immediately get another one.

I know that I promised to work more on the chapters to Bright Shadows and A Mask Over My Heart….but….with all that's happened lately, I never got around to getting it done.

Not to mention that my laptop is still broken. But I might be getting it fixed soon, once I find out how much it costs.

I SWEAR that in the next month I will have Bright Shadows updated. So look for an update in October.

Thanks for your patience again

-lotsa love-

Star


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